The Werewolf and His Kate
by Windslepi
Summary: Luke is a werewolf devoted to his pack. Kate is a free-spirited girl who never really fit in. Read along as they find that their connection is deeper than they thought, as Kate is introduced to a new world, and that their lives will never be the same.
1. Author's Greeting

Hello readers!

Imagine the world of Twilight. Everything is kept the same, except the fact that Edward, Bella, and Jacob do not exist! Sad, I know, but this is only for my story.

Meet Luke and Kate, two destined to fall in love with each other in the crazy world of Vampires and Werewolves. Luke is a werewolf, riding the flow of life with his beloved pack. His whole world changes when he meets Kate, a colorful girl who never really fit in, and a strong connection is formed between them, something stronger than any love bond ever forged before.

As you venture on into their world, I hope you enjoy it as much as I had writing it!

This is my first fanfiction, and please write reviews! All forms of criticism are welcome, as it will surely make me a better writer!

Thank You!

**Disclaimer: Ideas and Concepts (I.E. Werewolves and Vampires) all belong to Stephenie Meyer, not me. Some characters were made up by me, and some were taken from the series, and, of course, belong to Stephenie Meyer. **


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Luke**

Forks has never really been my preferred place to hang out. It never had anything to do, anywhere to go, no reason at all to stay longer than thirty minutes. Although, I always felt connected to it since it was close to my home, La Push. But I always preferred La Push and always will. We have the long vacant roads, the cliffs, and the ocean. There's always something to do. Not to mention my pack is here.

Anyone looking on would consider us a closely knit group of friends. Underneath that, though, our connection goes deeper—deeper than the standards of reality. They are my brothers. All that's missing from us is sharing the same blood.

It's always been me, Peter, Kevin, Howard, and Gerard. Always thick as thieves, and easily could be thick as blood. We were never this thick, but current circumstances have made it so.

None of us like to think back to those nights we became who were are—it's too tough. But we accept who we are, and even some of us have fun with it, including me. Peter and Gerard are the most serious with it, Gerard since he's our alpha, and Peter since that's who he is.

The reason we are so tight is that we are werewolves, shape shifters, descendants of the tribal elders and protectors of our people, meant to hunt and kill one, and only one, thing on this planet: Vampires.

They are real, and we sure as hell know it better than anyone does. Their cold skin and their luring features. They are created on this planet for only one purpose, to feed and to kill innocents and to create more of themselves. They are vermin, worthless leeches that shouldn't be here. And we are the ones who make sure they don't hurt anyone within a twenty mile radius of La Push, including Forks.

As far as tribal legends go, Vampires are dangerous, and can only be destroyed by us. Our thick fur, razor-sharp teeth, and our speed and strength made to match theirs. In my werewolf career, I've only killed one, and thankfully that was far from the farthest town from La Push.

But there are other perks to being a werewolf. We can hear each other in our heads, no matter the distance, when we take our wolf form. Actually, that can get quite annoying since everyone in our pack can and eventually know what we are thinking. I've tried hiding things, but that never worked out well in the end. It's tiring trying to hide things from everyone all the time. You just quit it because you don't want to keep thinking about hiding it all the time.

There are even tales of imprinting on females that supposedly give us the best chance of producing werewolf offspring. No one has ever come to test that aspect, so none of us knows what it feels like to imprint.

Kevin thought he felt something once when a girl walked past him, but we figured out that it was just his hormones getting the best of him. He got embarrassed when we figured that one out.

All in all, besides the fact that there are bloodsuckers out there every moment of the day, and that my pack members know every thought, every feeling rolling through my head, being a werewolf is pretty damn awesome.

**Kate**

Forks has always been my home. I was born here and have never lived anywhere else since. All I know is the constant rain and the clouds, and, if I'm lucky, some sunshine on a the one or two days the sun actually does decide to come out and share some of the plentiful light it has.

But only if we're so lucky.

My home is surrounded by trees. It's all I've been accustomed to. Put me in Texas and I will surely die. It's easy to warm up in cold weather. It's not so easy to cool down in the hot weather. I don't think I would ever be able to survive.

My family is small: my father, my brother and me. We have never been expressive of our love, but we know how each other feels. We all keep to ourselves. We're a quiet family, always having other places to go and other things to do. We've never had quality time together, it's just not what we do. My brother, older by two years, has a handful of friends he'd rather be with. He's social, most content keeping company with tons of people. I'd like to have more friends, but I've never really fit in with the other kids my age. It's my home and I love it in Forks, believe me, and I would never want to leave, but the people here have personalities that just don't match up with mine, thus separating me from them. That's what you get from a small school with people much like each other.

Of course I have some acquaintances. Some friends that invite me with a group of other people on occasion to the movies in Port Angeles, the local restaurant to hang out, or to First Beach over in La Push, but all my best friends before have either moved on or moved away.

But none of that bothers me. I live with it. I'm a very adaptive, tolerant person.

"Kate!" my father called up to me.

"What?" I holler back, not looking up from the doodles I was creating on my school folder.

"Could you come here a minute?" he asked.

I dropped my pen and got up. My father was standing at the base of the stairs, wearing a heavy jacket and carrying his fishing equipment. His scraggly white hair was pulled back into a ponytail, shockingly gray for his age.

"I'm going to the lake with Frank and Perry," he said.

"Okay."

"Adam went out a while ago, so you'll be here alone."

I nodded. "I'll be fine. I've done this many times before," I informed him.

He nodded and turned to walk out the front door. "If you need anything, Adam's at the diner, so you can find him there."

"Got it. Bye, Dad."

He closed the door behind him and I'm all alone.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Luke**

Howard called me from farther down the beach. He was with Lilly, his long-time girlfriend, and they were talking, sitting on a washed up log. I immediately made up my mind that I didn't want to stay long to prevent myself from becoming a third wheel as I headed down the beach towards them.

"Where are you going?" he asked me.

"Just looking for someone to hang out with," I said, meaning that I wanted someone to run with in wolf form.

He understood and nodded. "Well, man, I'm busy right now," he said, nodding to Lilly sitting beside him.

"Hey Lilly," I said.

She smiled and nodded.

By default, no one should know that we were werewolves. It's a secret all of us have kept from everyone for forever. The only ones who know are our fathers, since they were in the same boat as we were. So naturally, Lilly didn't know anything.

Lilly and Howard have been together for quite some time. They're getting serious, and sometimes Howard believes that she's the one, that somehow he imprinted on her. But we know that isn't true. The legend describes a deep passion, a deep belonging to be with this person, no matter what. From being inside Howard's head, we know he hasn't imprinted. No one denies his love and devotion for her, of course, but the legend implies something deeper than anything anyone has ever felt for something.

"Kevin's at home right now, but Peter and Gerard should be around here somewhere, if not hanging out already," Howard suggested.

I nodded and walked away, leaving him with Lilly. I knew I should have checked first, but I saw Howard before I had the chance to phase, so I checked with him first.

I moved to the trees far from the two of them before I stripped down and phased. The familiar shudder ran through my spine. It hasn't always been easy for me, but through the years, I've gotten used to it, and it becomes natural now. Just a part of me.

In seconds, I heard Gerard's voice in my head.

_Hey_, he said.

_Peter in here? _I asked. I started running through the trees trying to get to where Gerard was.

_No. He had to get some more clothes. He ripped through his last pair of sweats,_ he explained.

_Why?_

Then I saw it in his head.

_You found a trail? Why didn't you howl? We could have all been on it!_ I vaguely smelt the stench of the vampire in his head, shuddering at it.

_Calm down. It turned out to be days old. When we figured that out, Peter went back to get more clothes. When he came back, then we would have called._

_Oh._ I was getting closer to him. _Show me where this trail was._

_When you catch up with me._

Through the trees, I could see Gerard's black fur galloping through the forest. As I met up with him, he turned west and led me to the trail. Before we were even there, I smelt the stench of a bloodsucker and memorized it for future preference. My nose wrinkled in disgust as it filled my nostrils when he brought me to the trail itself.

_Disgusting, _I snorted.

_And frightening. We haven't come across a trail so strong and so close to home in months. We need to warn our fathers,_ Gerard said.

I nodded. This was frightening. There's only one reason for a trail to be so close to a town and that is for feeding. The fur on my back bristled at the thought of it.

_Calm down, Luke. We'll catch him, _Gerard assured me.

_But you said this trail was days old. He could have fed already!_

_I'm back. Hey, Luke, _Peter said as he phased. He started running straight towards us. Although he was far away at the edge of town, he would be here in a matter of seconds.

At the sound of Peter returning, Gerard prepared himself to call the others. He threw his head back and howled, the sound slicing through the woods towards the others. Soon enough Kevin joined us, then Howard coming in last, taking a while to probably make up an excuse and get away from his girlfriend before phasing.

_What did I miss? _Kevin asked as Howard listened, both breaking into a sprint to get to us.

_We found a trail, _Gerard said calmly.

_What?_ Kevin growled.

_A trail? Are you sure?_ Howard asked.

_We're perfectly sure,_ I said. _Come and smell it for yourself._

Peter had already arrived, and Kevin and Howard appeared soon after.

_Disgusting!_ Kevin howled when he took in a whiff.

_That's a few days old,_ Howard observed unhappily. _We'll have to patrol more often._

_Damn right. We have to find this leech and destroy it._ Kevin rumbled.

_It probably already fed, too,_ Peter added. _We'll need to keep our eyes open around town to find out if anyone knows who it was._

This made everyone uneasy. Nobody liked to hear that a vampire escaped our notice, and had the chance to feed.

_Anybody up for the task? _Gerard asked, looking for volunteers for town patrol. Of course he couldn't do it because he had to stay in wolf form just in case. So it was up to the rest of us.

Everyone stopped talking. Nobody liked town patrol, so we all kept our mouths shut. Town patrol meant walking around town on foot, sniffing around with our less-sharp human smell for the bloodsucker's trail. We all wanted to run with the rest of the pack.

_Well don't all jump up at once,_ Gerard said.

When the silence continued, Gerard sighed._ Well we know it wasn't in La Push because we would have smelt that. So someone will have to patrol Forks and perhaps farther up the road to Beaver. We want to be sure we get this one._

Everyone continued to say nothing.

_Okay. Luke, you'll patrol Forks, _Gerard decided.

I whined in protest, but couldn't defy him. His alpha force was kicking in.

_Kevin, you take Beaver. _

He whined even louder.

_The rest of us will spread out around the forests. We _need_ to catch this leech._

Reluctantly, I made my way south to Forks as everyone else ran their separate ways. Kevin's attitude was far worse than mine, since he especially hated patrolling in town, and he especially didn't like Beaver.

_Get over it, Kevin. Do your job,_ Gerard chided.

Kevin sighed. _Like I have a choice_.

Gerard ignored him and continued barking out orders to the others. _Peter, take the north side. Howard will take the east side to and past Forks. I'll take the south side._

_Got it, Gerard,_ Howard said.

I ran along with Howard for a while until he broke off to sweep around his assigned patrol area. I continued on to Forks and soon phased out, my mind becoming quiet again, when the first houses came around.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Kate**

After thirty minutes of being alone in my house, I decided to go on a walk, something I scarcely do. Being alone today didn't sound as appealing as it usually did. I felt like something big was coming on today, which made me restless.

While on my walk, I observed my surroundings: the trees, the dapple-gray sky, the constant dew on the forest from a recent rain. I've always loved the forests; so mysterious, so timeless. You never know what they hold, what secrets they can tell.

Often when I was young, I would run through them. Just take to the forests with a charged energy, hoping to discover something wild and remarkable. Of course I never found anything, but I would dream and I would pretend. My father often described me as a butterfly: colorful, always fluttering from one place to another, eager to uncover so many mysteries.

As I gazed up at the trees above me, I smiled elatedly, loving their rich green color, the smell of the forest I would never dare to leave. They were magnificent, holding so many things, so much life. I seemed impossible to wrap my head around the entire thing.

My green rain boots thumped gently along the damp dirt road. I was thrilling in the woodsy smell all around me, smiling to passersby occasionally, when I first saw him.

He had dark skin and dark hair, clearly from the reservation towards the shore. The first thing I noticed about him was his size. He was huge! He had a firm, muscular, build, and, boy, was he tall! His face was soft, though, thoughtful. His eyes had an understanding in them, that maybe he could listen to all your problems. And he was, to put it plainly, beautiful, in his own right. Not supermodel gorgeous, but gentle, subtle beauty. He seemed like the kind of person who would care endlessly for you.

The second thing that I noticed was that he was staring at me, awestruck, his eyes wide. It made me pause for a second in confusion. Was there a truck about to hit me? Did I have an elephant on my head? When I reassured myself that there was nothing wrong, I continued walking, a bit slower. His eyes never let up from mine, still holding that amazed stare as if I were radiating light off my skin and to him it was so strange, yet so beautiful. He was walking on the other side of the street, still staring. He didn't say anything or come over, so I just ignored him and walked away.

**Luke**

I began my patrol around Forks. For some reason, that curious pull that brought me to Forks was stronger than ever. It felt odd, nothing too big, though, just a little gravitational tug.

Gerard would want me to look around the main streets first, in case the leech wanted to have variety and a better chance of luring someone delicious—ugh. I started there, keeping my nose open for that disgustingly floral smell they radiated.

When I had caught nothing, I moved from the main streets, looking around the more populated spots first, and then I moved to the less populated areas when I continued to find no scent, but there were bigger things waiting for me in there.

As I moved around the back streets, the odd gravitational pull was getting stronger and stronger. It felt odd to me, so I moved where the pull took me, suddenly intrigued by it, wanting to know where it led me.

It was along a nearly vacant street when I first saw her.

It felt as if I had never felt the warmth of light before, or seen the brilliance of daylight ever. I felt like a blind man seeing the face of his beautiful wife for the first time, a bird discovering he could soar highest above the trees, a deaf man hearing the sound of sweet music for the first time.

There was nothing that could hold me to this earth in that moment but her. Everything that kept me who I lifted from me, replaced with a belonging to be with this girl whom I had never laid eyes upon before now. Her sapphire blue eyes, her long pin-straight brown hair, the freckles dotting subtly on her cheeks, her button nose that came up to a point, making her seem young and innocent, the prominent cheeks, her deep dimples when she barely smiled up to the sky and sniff the fresh damp air, and her thin lips, oh, those lips.

It was enough to make me forget everything I was here for, forget everything that had happened in the last few hours. This girl standing here was all I could think about, all my eyes could hold.

Her knowing eyes, they could see tiny details others would miss, her compassionate face. The way she walked; it was a light, bouncy step—a free spirit.

As I stared at her, her eyes glanced up to me, sensing she was being watched. My heart panged painfully, an unquenchable desire to be with her forever, to hold her, to love her, to care for her.

I could have said something. I could have walked over to her. I could have at least smiled at her, but no. This feeling was so strong, her beauty so enormous, her presence so encompassing, all I could do was gape.

She paused for a moment, confused by my stare, appraised that there was nothing wrong surrounding her, and kept walking. I could have shot myself for not speaking up, for just letting her pass. The pain of her walking away was unbearable, how I longed to just hear her voice, what she sounded like. If only she could reveal one tiny thing about herself, I would be deeply contented.

And just like that, she was gone. Walked around the corner and was out of sight. Yet still her image was burned in my mind. It never left, never faded. Just as crystal clear as if she was still standing there, but definitely not the same.

My first instinct was to go after her, to find her, and ask her what her name was. But then a thought crossed my mind that I should alert the others first that I had found nothing and would be a bit preoccupied with something else for a while.

I took action then. There was a cover of trees to my left. I dove in there and sprinted further in, far enough to phase without being noticed by anyone passing by on the road.

_I found nothing. Gotta go, bye,_ I informed the others, anxious to get back to town.

_Wait, Luke! _Howard called. _What happened?_

I paused long enough for them to feel what I was feeling, see the pristine picture of her in my mind, and hear their whines in surprise as it hit them all at once.

_Luke! What have you done!_ Gerard gasped. _You _imprinted?

_How did this happen? Who is she?_ Peter asked.

A quick recap of what happened not two minutes ago. Her movements, her face again. Then the feeling came rolling back in, and they all grunted in surprise once more at how strong it was. Then they felt the desire I felt to get back to her.

_Are you guys going to ask more questions or can I go now?_ I asked impatiently.

Gerard was too absorbed in my feelings to give one of his stern answers, so he just said, _go._

I thanked them quickly and phased back, pulled on my clothes, and sprinted back out of the trees.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Kate**

After almost ten minutes of walking, I made a loop back around the town and arrived home. That sense of a big event coming on had suddenly receded, and no longer held my curiosity.

As I stepped inside, I found it still vacant. I decided to do some homework before the weekend ended, so I settled in on the couch and scribbled answers on my homework.

**Luke**

The more I looked around town, the more hopeless I felt when I could not find her.

I hadn't thought much about her smell, and I knew I would find her that way. Since everything I saw about her struck me differently than any other girl I had seen before, I figured that if I smelt her, that would strike me as well.

I couldn't phase in the middle of town, unfortunately, but I could use my less sharp, human smell to guide me.

I returned to the spot I first saw her, starting there. I sniffed around the air, catching the scent of easily-recognizable humans, but nothing extraordinary. I continued down the street where she left and caught the whiff. It was a sweet striking, orange blossom shampoo, and mixed berry lotion, a sweet combination on her scent. It led me forward. I followed the scent through back streets and walking paths, but never turned into any of the houses. After weaving through more streets, though, her trail crossed the road and into a small house on the side of the road, encased by trees, with the forest just behind her house.

I started at the structure for a second, longing to go in.

**Kate**

Dad came home later that night. His hands full of coolers and poles.

"Could you help me?" he asked, standing in the doorway and leaning to the side to keep everything in his hands from tumbling to the floor.

"Sure." I jumped from the couch, finished with my homework and had just been doodling again, and took the cooler from his hands and brought it to the kitchen. "How was it?"

"Very good. Lots of nice catches. Want to see?"

I was about to decline, but he pulled back the lip of the cooler to reveal shiny, dead fish, staring at me with glazed eyes. My stomach lurched.

"We also met some guys from the reservation. They caught some nice ones."

"Did you really?" I asked, holding my nose from the stench of the fish.

"Yeah. They invited us to a fishing party later next week. Do you want to come?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," I said, preoccupied with getting the smell away from my nose. "Just close the cooler please."

My dad chuckled.

Adam was still out, but he came home when it was dark out when the rain was pouring violently.

The door whipped open and Adam clambered in, rain shooting in after him.

"Jesus, Adam, shut the door!" my father shouted from the living room.

The door slammed and Adam shed his sopping wet coat, taking it over to the fire and placing it on the hearth to dry.

Shaking his shaggy hair, he turned to me and said, "Who's the guy pacing outside across the street?"

My brow furrowed as I moved over to the front window and peered outside. Sure enough, a tall, dark man, clad in only a t-shirt and shorts paced the sidewalk across the street from my house. Occasionally he stopped to look, not noticing my tiny eyes peering through the blinds.

"I don't know him," I said, though he reminded me of the boy I saw walking around town earlier today.

I turned to look back at Adam, who was peering from behind me. He met my eyes and raised a tawny eyebrow. He could see that I slightly recognized him, but didn't say anything.

After a few seconds, Adam lost interest quickly and left me alone in front of the window, peering at the huge man, and slowly, I became more and more sure that this was the one I saw earlier. As I thought more and more about it, I wanted to go out there and give him something, maybe even a coat. I was intrigued with him. He didn't seem like the others at school.

Then suddenly, he stopped pacing and became very still. He lifted his head to the sky, hearing something I couldn't from inside. Then he broke out into a sprint with incredible speed, heading for the cover of trees to the side of my house.

I stayed, staring at the spot where he used to be standing, pacing, and in just a moment, he was gone.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Luke**

_What is it? What did you find? _I shouted to the others in my head.

I had heard the call and phased quickly, ready for whatever they had discovered.

_Wow, lover boy came quickly,_ Kevin said.

A growl rumbled in my chest as I pushed myself to catch up with them. _You're back from Beaver, _I stated plainly.

_Well, duh. That was about five hours ago, but you were busy stalking some girl all night._

A vicious snarl ripped through my chest.

_Have a little compassion, Kevin,_ chastised Howard.

_Said the other lover boy,_ Kevin said.

_And what would you know about love, Kev?_ Peter grinned.

_Enough, guys! We have more pressing matters to get to,_ Gerard growled.

_What is it?_ I asked.

_We found a fresh trail. We're all on it, now, _Gerard informed me.

The trees whipped past me in a blur. _I'll be there in a second,_ I said, heading far north.

_Are you sure?_ Gerard asked. _None of us have… experienced that. Do you need to stay?_

I shook my head. _I'm ready now. I need to do this. _I hungered for some vampire action, ready to rip apart some marble skin.

No one protested, not sure what to say, and we all moved forward.

A couple miles more and the stench hit me like a wrecking ball. Fresh, same as the scent we tracked yesterday. Only a couple hours old. Not farther along, I met up with the rest of the pack. They were as determined as I was. They were hunting for the safety of La Push, but only one thing was going through my mind. The longer this bloodsucker was out here, the longer it has to attack that girl.

_And you don't even know her name,_ Kevin laughed.

I made a swipe at him as we ran, not breaking my stride. He dodged around it, and got back into formation.

_Kevin. Enough, _Gerard ordered.

We all fell silent, returning to the task at hand, sprinting further and further north, the stench of the Vampire driving us forward.

**Kate**

As I slept that night, I dreamt.

In my dream, I was standing at the edge of the trees at First Beach in La Push. I was all alone, except for the thunderous crash of the waves beyond the shore, sending spray at me as they met the shore with a blow like flesh violently hitting flesh.

The more I stood there, the more I became scared. There was no one here to comfort me, and being in the open next to those cruel waves sent goose bumps up my arms and raised the hairs on my neck.

I could have crossed the short distance between me and the edge of the trees, hiding in their warm cover, but something unknown lurking just beyond them held me at bay.

Before I could figure out any other option to get out of that place, streaks of black, russet, and gold zoomed in and out of the trees. They ran back and forth, staying just inside the cover of the trees I desperately wanted to get to.

Before I could get a close look at the streaks, a piercing howl, even more thunderous than the waves, shot through the stormy sky.

Early morning, I was awoken with a shove in the shoulder, having no memory of a dream that night. My eyes fluttered open and Adam stood over me, his eyes anxious.

"What is it?" I asked.

He showed me what was in his hand. It was a cigarette lighter. I barely saw it in the soft light of the morning.

"Take this. Dad found a stash of cigs on the porch. If I have no lighter, he can't blame it on me," he said quickly.

"What? Adam—" I started to get out of bed. My head was heavy with fatigue and it was hard keeping my eyes open. "I can't do that."

He shoved the lighter into my hands.

"Yes you can. You're the good child. He finds this in your room, you can say it was for a science project. And I can say that the cigs were my friends, but I didn't have any," he explained. "He finds me with the lighter, I'm dead. He'll make the connection in an instant."

I groaned. "Why are you smoking anyway?"

He sighed. "Because it's cool, Kate."

I stared evenly at him as best I could. "No, it's _not._"

He shook his head. "Whatever, just take it. I'll get it from you once this whole thing blows over."

I stared at him for a second longer before reluctantly taking the lighter.

"Thanks, sis. You're the best," he said, kissing me on the forehead before darting out of my room.

"You owe me," I muttered, throwing the lighter in the corner of the room on my school books before toppling back over onto my pillow.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Luke**

There had been nothing there again while we were running. After almost an hour of sprinting, the trail turned east, then north again into Canada. That was out of our jurisdiction, so we headed back to our own land to protect it. After that, we hadn't found anything else, and we didn't hear anything around town about missing people.

Over the past few days, I'd been spending most of my time in Forks, hoping to catch a glimpse of that girl again. After Sunday, I couldn't get out as much. I had school of my own to attend on the reservation, and my dad was planning a get-together with some of his fishing friends later in the week. He wanted me to come along, take a break from all the vampire hunting and relax with him and his buddies. I reluctantly agreed, hoping to clear my mind.

Over the past few days, I'd been beginning to think I was going mad, that perhaps that girl was in my imagination. But I refused to think that. I saw her clearly. I could still see her in my mind. Her sweet scent lingered in my nostrils. Those minor details proved to myself that she was out there.

School came and went without me even noticing. I always hurried out at night to run to her house, making sure it was still there, making loops around it to make sure no harm was in the way. Some days I would smell her cook, see her through the back window of the kitchen. I could sometimes see her reading upside down on the couch, her hair tumbling down to the floor like a sleek waterfall.

I had no idea how I would meet her, what I would say to her when I did. Sometimes I thought I would only see her through her window and never actually come face to face with her, that maybe my only chance was when I first saw her walking down the street.

The days dragged on endlessly, and I dreaded the one day I wouldn't be able to go to her house this week: my dad's fishing get-together. I promised him I would be there, so I couldn't back out. Maybe one day away from her will clear my head. Maybe I could think of a way to talk to her, to get her attention.

On the day of Dad's get-together, his friends started arriving and gathered on our small back porch, drinking beer, talking loudly about fish they've caught in the past. All along, I was dreading finally getting out on the lake, having to stand being there for hours more.

I love my father, don't get me wrong. It's just that these get-togethers with his friends aren't my idea of fun. I could be running with the pack, or running around her house. This is the worst time to be having a fishing party.

Dad left me on equipment detail. I had to organize the fishing gear and get our small metal boat hooked up to the truck. I had the fishing poles all lined up against the shed with the tackle boxes beside them, ready to be taken into the truck. When I joined my father around back with the guys, I found Peter sitting on the steps, waiting for me.

My initial thought was that something happened. Was it her, or did they find the leech's trail again? But then I saw his relaxed position and calmed down.

"Ready for some fishing?" he asked, an amused look on his face.

"You don't fish, Peter. What are you doing here?" I asked as I sat next to him.

"Thought maybe you could use some rescuing. I found out my dad was coming, so I might as well come too," he muttered under his breath.

The doorbell rang and Dad got up to get it. The rest of the guys continued their loud chatting.

"And I think I was right," Peter muttered.

My dad came back and said, "Hey! Everyone meet Frank, Perry, and Jeffrey."

All the guys waved and mumbled greetings. Peter, who was turned around to look at them, tugged on my shirt. "Luke…" he started to say.

My dad continued talking. "They're going to join us on the lake. They caught some nice ones last weekend."

"Thanks, Todd," one of the men said.

Behind the heavy footsteps of the louder men came a soft tread.

"And this is Jeffrey's lovely daughter…?"

"Kate," a musical female voice answered.

Something sparked in me as that name was said.

"Luke…" Peter continued.

I turned around and there she was. The girl I saw on the street—Kate.

By God, once I knew her name, I thought it was the most beautiful name for her. Kate. I felt the familiar burning in my heart as she looked around the porch at each face. Once her eyes landed on mine, my heart broke in two, yet pounded even faster than before, and I thrilled when her eyes stayed on mine longer than the rest.

"Take a seat," my father offered. "We'll be leaving very soon."

"Thank you," Jeffrey said, and they all settled in, taking the beers my dad handed them.

"Kate, could you get our tackle from the truck?" Jeffrey asked.

"Yes, Luke, go and help her," my dad ordered.

Any other circumstance, I would have complained, but now I jumped up immediately. That was when my father noticed something.

"Sure," Kate said.

"Come this way," I said, shakily, walking down the porch, not taking my eyes off her.

She smiled sweetly and followed. Before I left around the corner, I noticed my father eying the both of us suspiciously, and Peter shaking his head as he sat alone on the porch.

"Is this your first time on the reservation?" I asked, looking down at her. Her head barely reached my shoulders.

"No. I've come down to First Beach once or twice with some friends," she said, wiping her long hair from her face.

"Really? That's cool," I said, a little too enthusiastically.

She smiled at me again, and my heart soared.

Once we came to the front, she led me to a light blue truck, much larger than mine.

"Where can I put this?" she asked, pulling out a handful of rods and boxes. I took some of them from her, lightening her load. Our hands brushed momentarily and I became wary that she would notice my heated skin. She eyed my face for a second curiously, but looked away and followed me to the side of the shed.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Kate**

When our hands brushed, I felt the shocking warmth of his skin. It was as if he had a fever, but when I looked up to his face, he looked fine, but maybe a little wary.

"Follow me," he said, his deep voice reverberating between us.

He led me to a shed with a row of neatly lined poles and tackle boxes. He set up the poles he took from my hands and I knelt to set up the boxes, lining them next to his. As I did this, he knelt against the shed, watching me. He came a little too close to a pole and it tumbled down, knocking every other pole in its path down to the ground in one heap of poles and fishing line.

He sighed in frustration, and buried his face in his hands.

I giggled at his attempts to look suave and he pulled his face from his hands to look at me. I sat crisscrossed on the ground and started picking out poles.

"That was smooth," I commented.

He laughed. "I try."

If anything, the poles served as an icebreaker for us.

"What a mess," I said, plucking strings and poles from the heap. I tugged on a random pole and it snagged on a pole he was holding.

We both laughed awkwardly as he untangled the poles.

"Do you fish?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not at all. What about you?"

"I hate fish," I said.

He laughed. "Then why did you come?"

I pursed my lips. "I guess I must have agreed to get him to stop showing me his fish that he caught last weekend." I shook my head. "That wasn't very smart of me."

**Luke**

_But I'm thankful for it_, I thought, smiling at her as she continued to pluck some poles free of the embarrassing mess I had made.

* * *

Kate was beautiful. Her face was sunshine. Whenever I wasn't looking at it, I saw darkness, so I tried to look at her as much as possible.

The time came when the guys wanted to get out on the lake. There wasn't enough room for everyone in my dad's truck, so he asked Jeffrey to bring his. Kate opted to sit in the back of her father's truck, so I did as well.

Peter came up to me before we loaded into the trucks.

"I guess you don't need me now," he said, a smirk on his face.

I shook my head, smiling. "I'm good now," I said.

He nodded. "See you running tonight?"

I grinned sheepishly. "Maybe not."

He nodded. "Alright. See you when I see you."

"Bye, Peter."

After he left, everyone got into the trucks and headed out. The whole way to the lake, Kate was silent, staring towards the road ahead of us as the truck zoomed past the trees, her hair whipping back in the wind. Each time she caught me staring, her cheeks reddened.

By the time we got to the lake, the sun was beginning to set. The only thing I noticed was that Kate's skin looked beautiful, stunningly creamy, in the twilight. I helped her down from the truck bed, she took my hand graciously, barely grimacing at the oddness of my heated skin.

"Are you going to fish, Kate?" her father asked, coming around to retrieve the rods and boxes.

"No, Dad. I'm fine," she said, her cheeks coloring red. I was glad to already know why she didn't want to, and it made me want to know more about her.

Her dad turned to me and held out his sun-tanned hand, probably so from all the fishing trips he's taken. Is Kate home alone a lot because of that? I wondered if she had siblings. I saw a boy walk into her house that first night, but that might be a friend. My skin crawled with jealousy, but then I told myself to calm down, that he could be a brother.

"Jeffrey," he said. I took his hand and shook it. It was firm, sturdy. He seemed to be making a statement with that for his daughter, he's seen us together, but I could see the intimidation my size caused him. I was a head taller than he was.

"Luke," I said.

"It's a pleasure, Luke," he said politely, and walked away towards everyone else.

"Luke, is it?" Kate asked as we followed behind her father.

"Yeah," I said, smiling at her, liking the way my name sounded on her lips.

We joined the others by the shore as my father backed the boat into the water. It was a small thing, made entirely of metal.

"Now, only a few of us can go into the boat at time," my father informed everyone. "The rest will have to make due with the docks."

I leaned in to Kate, he fragrant smell touching my nose as I did so, and said, "You want to go to the docks?"

She looked over at them, then nodded to me. Her cheeks colored red again at how close I got. She seemed to not hate it, so I gave her a little smile.

My dad, Frank, and Peter's father all got into the boat first. The rest of them settled at the end of the dock with fold out chairs and beers, throwing their lines into the open lake.

Kate sat down on the side of the dock, a little ways away from the guys. Not seeing any other option than staying with her, I sat beside her. Her father came by not long after and handed her a fishing rod and a tackle box.

"Thanks, dad," she said flatly.

"Just in case. Put it in the water," he prodded.

She nodded, and he walked back to the rest of the guys.

She glanced at me, a sheepish grin on her face. "Could you help me out?" she asked, holding out the rod.

I chuckled, then pulled the tackle box closer. As I hooked on a sinker and some bait to the hook, she striped her sandals and rolled up her jeans, revealing soft skin underneath; I had to stop myself from staring. She carefully slipped her legs into the water and swirled them around. I cleared my throat and handed the rod back to her.

"You seem pretty skilled at that for someone who doesn't fish," she said, pulling her arm back to fling the hook into the water. It caught and swung back to her. I snatched the hook out of the air before it whipped back and snagged on her. She noticed the gesture, her cheeks coloring again.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

I smiled, even though it was nothing. I didn't want her to get hurt, even if it was just a fishing hook. "You have to release at the right moment," I told her, daringly taking her hand and placing it where it should be. Her arm was nimble, yet strong, her fingers graceful as they wrapped around the pole. Rare sweat beading on my forehead, I positioned her fingers on the release button and pulled her arm back, then guided it forward to throw the line out. I looked into her eyes, her cheeks darkening one more time.

"Luke, are you flirting with me?" she asked, her lips curling upwards.

I smiled down at my hands, unable to control anything. "Maybe."

She giggled, not a girly sound, a bubbly sound, something spirited, free. I loved it.

"Do you like it?" I asked, looking into her eyes

This time she looked down into the water, her glossy, long hair curtaining her face. "Maybe."

I let go of her hand and she held the pole. I took my shoes off, then rolled up my jeans to put my legs in the water, swishing them around next to hers.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Kate**

I'd be a fool not to notice how much Luke is interested in me. It was something deeper than a crush, something that had to have years to developed, but sprang up incessantly in a moment.

We were sitting on the docks, our feet swirling in the water. I could feel his strange body heat radiating off him beside me.

And I would also be a fool not to notice how strange Luke seems altogether. The heat, the immense size and stature of his body, it all didn't seem right, and the fact that Peter, his friend back at La Push, looked much the same.

Peter introduced himself briefly, but I was astounded to realized they weren't related at all, and yet they shared the same traits. The only difference was that Peter didn't have the same look in his eyes as Luke, just a knowing look.

Luke's muscles were so strong. I couldn't explain it. I've never seen someone with so much strength. And the heat. He should be in the hospital! It's not right for a human to have such a high temperature and look all right like he does.

Somehow, it all seems magical. The feeling I get when I look at him is the same as when I look into the forests. There's something being withheld, something important.

I turned to him. "Luke, what's your story?" I asked, hoping he would say something that would make at least a few of the pieces fit.

He looked at me, surprised. "What do you mean?"

I shrugged, not hinting anything in case I was terribly off. "What's your story?"

He looked down into the water, his brows knitted closely together. He seemed conflicted, as if he didn't know what to say, what he _could_ say.

I raised my eyebrows.

"Well. I've lived on the reservation my whole life. My mother left a while ago. I don't even remember it. It was nothing big, just what she wanted, so my father tells me. I have an awesome group of friends. You should meet them sometime," he said, keeping it brief.

"Nothing else?" I asked.

He shook his head slowly. Still conflicted.

"That's a pretty short story—oh!" I gasped.

The line I was holding on to jerked forward, almost lurching me off the dock. Luke's hands grabbed my shoulders, holding me firmly in place.

"What do I do?" I asked frantically.

"Reel it in!"

I started cranking on the reel, pulling it in. My muscles worked hard, but it was tough, the fish was fighting. Hard.

"He's too strong!" I shouted, handing him the pole.

He laughed and took it, reeling the fish in easily, almost too easily. As it came closer, the fish came into view, thrashing around, and huge.

"Holy crap! He's huge!" I pulled my feet from the water and knelt close to the surface to get a better look. The fish was about three feet long.

Luke got the fish reeled in tight and started to pull it from the water. The animal thrashed, making a big fuss, and a hell of a lot of noise. I was glad my dad was caught up in his own catch. I didn't want him to come over to see.

"Wow, Kate," Luke beamed. "You want to take the hook out?"

I pulled back. "No! No, release it back. I don't want to kill him!"

Luke looked at me. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Take the hook out and put him back!" I shouted.

Luke's tight grasp restrained the fish easily. The fish failed to squirm any good at all as Luke got a hold of the hook and pulled it out, then lowered the fish, squirming and flapping again, into the water. His tail splashed water at Luke and me on final time.

Soon the fish got all the way under and darted away. The water became too quiet, and the scene the fish left behind was motionless, and almost comical. Me, standing on my knees with my hands up, covered in water, staring at the glass surface of the water with a look of shock on my face; Luke, turned to me with his hands extended to me, the same expression on his face, wet just as much as I was.

"Are you okay?" he asked, leaning forward just a fraction.

I didn't move, not quite sure what he was asking, but then my lip twitched, and I broke out into laughter at the scene that had just passed.

At the sound of my laugh, Luke relaxed just a little, a smile breaking on his lips, too.

I sat back down on the deck, laughs bubbling out of my chest, making my abs ache.

"Am I okay?" I laughed. "Are _you_ okay?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I'm okay."

I put the rod aside and slipped my feet back into the water. After that, the night seemed to go on faster than before. I put my suspicions aside and Luke and I enjoyed ourselves, talking about nothing, talking about everything. I found that Luke enjoyed being in the woods, and that he likes to run. Most of the time he wanted to talk about me. Anything I said he absorbed like a sponge, and then asked for more information.

A little too soon, night fell upon the lake. Luke and I were laughing hard when Dad came over.

"Hey guys. Time to pack up and go. It's getting late," he said.

"Really? How late is it?" I asked. Noticing for the first time how high the moon was in the sky.

He checked his watch. "Almost eleven." He headed for the trucks, carrying his fold out chair and his pole. The rest of the men walked past. Luke's father brought the boat in and they all started to load up.

Luke stood up and pulled me up from the ground. We started walking slowly to the trucks.

"I had a lot of fun," I said, smiling up at him, a little reluctant to call it a day.

"Me, too."

Luke rode in the back with me again, only we sat side by side like we did on the docks. Neither of us said anything, just regretting the day being over so soon after such a fun day.

We got back to his house and my dad stopped to let the La Push guys out before going back to Forks. My dad helped them get their equipment from the back of the truck, and Luke hoped out of the bed.

I leaned over the side as he turned to wish me good night.

"I'm glad you had fun," he said.

"I did have fun," I said. "When will I see you again?"

He smiled. "Tomorrow good enough?"

"I can't make it out here. I don't have a car," I said.

"I'll pick you up," he offered. "I really want you to meet the guys."

"Are you sure? That's an awfully long drive just to pick me up," I said.

"I'm perfectly sure."

He paused a moment to look into my eyes. They were burning, singing me to the core. I had to look away with my cheeks reddened, it was so intense.

"Goodnight," he said.

"Goodnight," I smiled.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**Luke**

I didn't see my father come up from behind while I watched Kate fade away in the back of her father's truck. He thumped me on the back hard.

"Ow," I said distantly.

"You didn't tell me you imprinted!" he said cheerfully.

"You never asked," I muttered.

He shook his head and chuckled. "Well, look at that."

"What, Dad, spit it out," I said, finally looking at him.

"It does me good to see my werewolf son imprinting."

I turned my attention back to the now vacant road. "Yeah, yeah."

There was a silence. "I guess you're not coming home tonight."

I turned to him. "I'll be sleeping outside her house."

"In the forest, yeah. I know how it goes," he said.

"You do?" This was news to me.

"Well, from your Uncle. He imprinted on Sal, you know?" he said.

"Oh, right." My uncle moved away from La Push the moment he could control not phasing into a werewolf. Before that happened, though, he found Sally. I've never seen them together much, and when I had, I was only a few years old. But now, I can clearly imagine what he must have gone through.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning," I said.

"Okay. I'll see you," he sighed, turning to the house.

I started for the forest, making sure to strip first before phasing. I left my shirt and tied my pants to my leg, and soon was flying through the forest. I wasn't surprised to find I wasn't alone in my head.

_That you, Luke? _Kevin asked.

_Yes._

He paused for a second as I silently recalled today's eventful happenings.

_So you finally learned her name,_ he observed.

I grunted in response.

_Kate,_ he noted._ I like it_.

The rest of the pack, from hearing my thoughts all the time, loved Kate as well. They didn't share the same intensity that I had, but they already felt somewhat close. Seeing her in their heads and feeling what I felt was the catalyst to that.

He ascertained that I wouldn't be chatty tonight, so he said, _I'll leave you alone. You might want it to be quiet tonight. _

_Thank you,_ I said, and my head became silent.

Running had always been one of my favorite parts about being a werewolf. I felt so free, boundless when I ran. The feel of my muscles pulling against each other was calming. Nothing could stop me once I began, but once I saw Kate's truck moving down the highway, I slowed to run alongside, grinning when I saw Kate still in the back, leaning against the back window of the cab, nodding off.

I stayed beside her until I felt we were getting close to Forks. The truck slowed down to the town speed limit and I branched off to loop around and beat them to the house and already be there when they arrived.

**Kate**

"Wake up, sweetie," my father crooned. "We're home."

My eyes opened slowly. The settings around me were confusing, but I soon remembered where I was, and what had happened earlier.

I was still in the back of the truck. My dad had let me stay back there on the ride home, and at some point I drifted asleep.

My father held out his hand and helped me up and out of the truck. As he gathered the fishing stuff, I clumsily made my way up the walk to the front door.

Before turning to open the door, I glanced ahead into the forest and caught sight of something familiar.

They were eyes, but I wasn't completely sure. They were looking at me, and I faintly remembered the chocolate color surrounding them from a past dream, but I couldn't quite dredge it up fully to understand.

Disregarding the whole thing together, believing it was my tiredness that was playing tricks on me, I turned the handle on the door and stepped inside.

Undressing was a hard task, but when I ascertained that I was in my nightclothes, I sunk into my welcoming bed and fell swiftly asleep, having the strange, comforting feeling that I was being watched over.

**Luke**

The morning came slowly. I woke when the light finally touched my eyelids through the trees and I could tell that it was late morning by the slanting of the sunlight.

Reluctantly, I lifted myself from the bed of pine needles I laid on last night, shook my fur, and sprinted for home. While I ran, it took me while to get fully awake. Running was so second nature that it was easy to keep my footing while doing so. But as the morning drowsiness wore off, I ran fast, eager to get the truck and bring Kate to La Push and have her meet the pack.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Kate**

The heroines in the old vampire movies are always the same. She's completely helpless to the lure of the vampire, and eventually he gets her close enough, emotionally attached enough, to feed on her blood. The heroine has a fear inside, an inkling, but she can't help herself. The vampire's beauty is too much, she can only resist so much before he overtakes her.

That's what it feels like for me with Luke. Except I don't feel the fear of his nature, and I don't feel he's going to harm me in any way. I just feel that he may be too much for my restraint to handle and he could take me away.

I've never been loved before. I've had plenty of boys back in the elementary days chasing me with their crushes, but nothing serious enough to take them past following me around the playground. When I hit middle school, all boys lost interest, because I was the one they knew their whole lives and I'd lived through the awkward phases of puberty with them.

But Luke, his eyes possessed something more. And I wouldn't be imagining things if he weren't driving down from La Push himself to take me to meet his friends, would I?

When I saw his truck pull up into my driveway that morning, I quickly banished those thoughts from my head. He opened my door for me, a true gentleman's gesture. He pulled out and was on the highway in no time.

"So," I started, "You told me a little about your past at the lake."

"Would you like to know more?" he asked.

"Yes, actually."

"Ask anything you want," he smiled, giving me an open invitation.

I stared ahead for a moment, thinking of the perfect question to ask. What _should _ I ask? What were the boundaries here?

"What's your birth date?" I asked. That was a safe question.

He grinned. "January fourth."

"That's pretty close to new years," I said.

"It gets annoying sometimes. People party for Christmas, party harder for New Years, and by the time my birthday comes around, they're all tired and sick of partying."

I laughed. "That sounds really bad."

He nodded. "It is."

"What's your favorite color?" I continued, still keeping it safe.

This time he laughed. "Blue," he said, then his cheeks reddened.

I noticed that. "Why?"

He sighed. "Because it's the color of your eyes."

That pulled me up short. I didn't expect that intimate of an answer. Avoiding any awkwardness, I continued.

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked.

He cleared his throat. "No," he said curtly.

That seemed like a touchy subject, so I moved on, disregarding whatever the meaning was behind his demeanor.

"What are your friends like?" I asked.

He laughed, showing his stark white teeth. "The boys," he said, letting that phrase reverberate between us.

"Should I be afraid?"

"Nah. You've met Peter. He's probably the friendliest. He's also the most mature besides Gerard."

He said that name like it held importance.

"Is Gerard one of your friends?"

He nodded, but that was all, so I asked about the others.

"Who else is there?"

"Kevin," he smiled, "is the jokester. Don't let his jokes get to you, whatever he says. And Howard is the compassionate one, but he worries," he explained.

"What does he worry about?" I asked.

"Mainly his girlfriend. It's complicated."

I nodded. "And Gerard?" I had to know about all of them.

"Gerard is all business. He can be understanding, but no matter what, he gets the job done."

It was overwhelming, meeting his friends the day after we met. I barely knew anything about him, and it felt like we were on a second date.

Luke saw something in my eyes and said, "This isn't awkward, is it?"

"Just a little strange."

"I know we've only met, but I think you'll like them."

There was something in the way he said that, as if he meant _me_ instead of _them_.

When I was silent for a moment, he added, "They'll love you. Don't worry."

The trees thinned and opened up into the small town of La Push. I remembered the road my father took to Luke's house on the fishing trip as Luke and I drove down it again. Soon, the rusted red paint on his small house showed through the trees, and he pulled into the gravel driveway.

"Are they all here?" I asked, my nerves kicking in suddenly.

"Sure they are. It's lunchtime."

He got out of the truck and helped me out. He led me to the front door and walked right in. The boisterous shouts and laughs sounded all around the front yard from inside, and when Luke let me in, I saw four freakishly tall, muscled, young men all sitting around the living room and the kitchen, noticing the striking similarities they shared in size and build with each other and Luke. They were all as shockingly tall and large as he was. As small and slight as I was, I found myself feeling even tinier.

They all shouted greetings at the sight of Luke and me. Luke fell right into place as he moved around all of them crowded in the small living space, surprisingly light and agile on his feet for someone his size. He squeezed into the kitchen and managed to grab a plate toppling with food. My eyes widened at his monstrous appetite, but then I noticed everyone else with their own plates piled on with food.

"Kate, you want anything?" Luke shouted from the kitchen.

"No, thanks," I answered.

He came quickly back into the living room where I stood, plate in his hand, and got the boys' attention.

"Everyone," he announced, "meet Kate."

They all shouted greetings again for me, huge smiles on their faces, but didn't seem surprised at all that I was there.

"Kate, meet the boys," Luke said, as he gestured, "Gerard, Howard, Kevin, and Peter."

"Hi," I said with a small wave.

I recognized Luke's father as he popped his head out from behind the kitchen. "Hey, Kate! You're back!"

He came around, looking drastically fragile and smaller than before next to all the boys, and put his hand on my shoulder. His skin was the same dark shade as his son's, but his hair was much grayer and longer compared to the jet black, short cut Luke had.

"Now listen. Being in this house with these boys can be frightful. But remember this: eat what you can first. Nothing remains untouched and uneaten in this house."

I smiled. "Thank you."

He smiled in return. "Welcome. Have anything you like. If you don't, one of these monkeys surely will."

"Thanks, Dad," Luke said flatly.

"Who are you calling a monkey?" the one named Kevin growled, food still in his mouth as he half stared at the TV.

"You," Luke's father said plainly.

He turned back to me and held out his hand. "Call me Todd."

I shook his hand. "Certainly."

He gave Luke a meaningful look, and Luke grabbed my shoulders and guided me towards the mass of boys.

"Kate! Come sit next to me," Kevin shouted, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and making room on his right for me, although with all the boys, it still didn't seem wide enough.

Luke swooped in so quickly and smoothly it was hard to believe such a large person could be so graceful. He punched Kevin on the shoulder with a hard thud that seemed like it hurt, but he didn't even flinch.

"Kevin," Todd chastised as if Kevin were his own son, "move to the floor and make room for Kate."

Kevin groaned and took his plate to the floor. Luke held out his hand for me to sit. In Kevin's old spot, there was more than enough room for me between the armrest and Peter, who smiled acknowledging at me.

He leaned in a said, "That's how we keep him in line."

"Otherwise no one would be able to stand him," Gerard said.

"So, Kate," Howard started after swallowing a big mouthful. "Have you been to La Push before?"

I nodded. "I've been to the beach with some friends."

"Like it enough?" Gerard asked.

"Yeah, I like it."

"That's good enough for me," Peter said.

"Bet she's never been hiking before," Kevin said.

"Actually, I have," I said. My father could never get me out fishing with him, so he took me hiking, and I found that I liked it very much.

"Seen any large bears out there? They say there're some wolves as big as horses," Kevin said.

Gerard kicked him the head. "Shut it, Kevin."

Kevin frowned, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Nope. Never seen any giant wolves," I said.

Luke was silent, but he was watching me carefully.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Kate **

Hours later, I found myself in the midst of the loud laughs and shouts in the small living room. The boys had, luckily enough, warmed up to me easily, and we were all talking, laughing at each other and making jokes. Peter was friendly, the most besides Luke. Gerard never said much, but it was clear he had a sort of high standing in the group. Howard was sweet and paid attention to everything I said. Kevin didn't tease me as much as I thought he would, but made jokes with me. Even though I didn't expect it, I was beginning to feel at home with these guys.

The whole time, Luke never had his eyes on the TV. The only one really watching was Kevin, and even he couldn't keep himself out of our conversations. Luke sat on the floor by my legs, halfway turned towards me so he could see the whole group.

As he talked, I noticed his eyes lit up whenever I laughed at his jokes or smiled at something he said.

The whole time, I could feel a profound current between us. He understood everything said, and I found myself listening vigilantly whenever he spoke. It was a strange connection we held. It was much like how Luke seemed to have a deep longing for me, but now I was feeling the same for him. It was almost as if it were meant to be, and there was a supernatural bond holding us together.

Next to me, Peter was in the middle of telling a story about how Kevin ate too many of Todd's beans for lunch one time, and everyone had to stay away from him for at least a couple days before he smelt better. Kevin frowned at him, but he was smiling underneath. Howard was the one laughing the hardest about it.

After a few more minutes of chatting, Gerard stood up, and everyone noticed, as if their attention gravitated towards him.

He sighed and stretched. "Thanks a lot, Todd. That was great," he complimented.

"Anytime, son."

"Todd's always the best cook," Kevin said as he laid on the floor, no longer paying any attention to the TV. He took up a majority of the tiny space as he patted his protruding belly.

"We'd better go now, guys," Gerard said as if there was an important task they had to get to. He glanced toward Luke and nodded.

Luke nodded back in some sort of unheard agreement.

One by one, the boys dumped their plates into the sink and clambered out of the house.

"See you, Kate," Howard said.

"It was nice meeting you all," I said.

"You, too," Gerard said politely, nodding before ducking out the front door.

They all said goodbyes before they sauntered down the street together, talking noisily.

"You want to go to the beach?" Luke asked once the house became quiet again.

"Yes."

Luke guided me to a narrow path near his house that led to the beach. I hadn't noticed how sweltering the house had become until I'd stepped outside. I wondered if they had the same shocking temperature Luke had.

"You asked the questions on the way here, so I'm asking the questions now," Luke decided as we walked.

"Ask anything," I offered.

He smiled.

"When's your birthday?"

I smiled at the repeat of my own question from before. "August 1st."

"Your favorite color?" he asked.

"Crimson."

"Your favorite movie?"

"That's a hard one. I guess _The Sound of Music_."

"You like the musicals?"

"Oh yeah, I'm a big fan."

He smiled. "Favorite thing to do?"

"Be outside."

He nodded in approval, his jet black hair shining in accordance with the gleam of the sun.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"One older brother. His name is Adam."

"Favorite book?"

"I don't have just one."

"Are you an avid reader?"

"Totally," I smiled.

"I don't have much time for reading," he said, shrugging.

"That's okay. As long as you don't hate it, I'm fine with it," I said, picking at a leaf dangling from a branch not far from my head.

He laughed.

"And if I did hate it?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"I would probably hate you for it," I joked.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

I grinned. "But that's not the case."

"Is that so?"

I nodded.

"And how much would you say you liked me?"

I bit my lip. Which was the best answer to this question? I decided with deviance was the best way.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

By that time, the path opened up to First Beach. I vaguely recalled it from the one time I went a couple years ago.

The waves in the distant were large, crashing the shore and spraying mist all around. Luke took me to a washed up log near the edge of the trees and far from the waves so that we would stay dry. I followed suit as he sat down on it.

Only a slight amount of mist carried out to where we sat, but I kept completely warm by Luke's heat. Even in the mild chill, he wore cutoff shorts and black t-shirt and seemed unbothered by the temperature. I was wearing a sweater and jeans, and still I felt the cold.

"What did you think of the guys?" he asked.

"They were great," I responded. "I shouldn't have been worried."

"Yeah. They're like a bunch of brothers, aren't they?"

I nodded.

"Are they like your brother?" he asked.

I stared down the length of the beach. I noted that it must have been a mile long, and the whole of it was entirely empty besides us sitting on the washed up log.

"Sort of. My brother is less rowdy. Though, he never hangs around much. He's always with his friends somewhere."

"Are you usually home alone?"

I nodded. "But I don't mind it. I like the calm."

"Then why do you like my friends?"

I laughed. "I don't know. I just feel safe with all of you, I guess. It's like family."

"But not like yours," he observed carefully.

I paused. "No, I guess not."

"We're a different kind of family."

"Yes. And I like it." I stroked the white pattern on the log beneath me.

"Well, you're welcome into my family anytime you like," he offered, leaning closer.

I smiled. "I like the sound of that."

We stared at each other then, fully appreciating each other. There was something soft about the way his skin was on his face. It was clearly thick and tough, but the way his eyes were set in it, and the curve of his lips, it made him seem careful, and protective. His hair was wonderfully shiny, angling up in a natural short Mohawk. It was the product of unkemptness, and it was sexy.

I frowned at the ground as I thought of something.

"What is it?" he asked, noticing.

"Back at the lake, you said your mother left," I stated.

He stared evenly at me. "Yeah?"

I knew I was going into touchy territory again, so I said quickly, "Well, it's comforting, really."

His brows lifted. "Comforting?"

I sighed before continuing, hoping to steady my voice. "I don't have a mother either."

His brow furrowed. "I didn't know."

"How could you know? I never told you."

He nodded vacantly.

"But, in a way, I'm glad about it. Because you understand."

He was silent after that. Staring down in my direction as I stared at his hands.

Then unexpectedly, he took my hand that rested on my knee, and wrapped his entire hand around it. It was a gesture so sweet and his skin was so warm that it raised bumps up my entire arm. My face fervently turned red, and he gave me a crooked smile.

Luke opened his mouth, but before he could get anything out, a howl ripped through the air, an urgent calling, followed by many more overlapping each other. It was hard to tell how many.

"What was that?" I asked, jumping from the log and turning to the forest. Luke followed me.

At first, it scared me, the sound wasn't like a wolf's cry; it was louder, deeper, and as if the wolf was just a few yards away in the trees. But then I noticed Luke's face as recognition appeared. Then a torn look.

He sighed heavily. "I—I have to go," he announced.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" I asked, leaning forward as he turned to the trees, moving _toward_ the sound.

"Yeah, I've got to get—"

He seemed not to know what to say, but it was clear that he had to leave. Now.

I didn't ask questions, I just nodded.

"Take my truck home," he offered, almost running towards the trees now. "I'll pick it up later tonight."

I nodded. "Go."

He started sprinting for the trees, seeming to shake from head to toe. His large form disappeared into the trees and I stood there, my eyes wide with the surprise of what had just passed.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Kate**

Luke had just run towards the howl of wolves. My mind couldn't make sense of it, but that was what clearly just happened. He didn't seem confused, or even scared. Actually he seemed a little annoyed, but aching to leave and run to the forest anyway, as if he were being called for.

Was that what he did on his spare time? Play with wolves? Was it some sort of wolfy disease that he had that made him so huge and warm? If that were the case, which I sincerely doubted, then his friends were in on it too.

Then I froze. When I put the two together, something clicked in my head.

Was that the guys who called to him?

But that was impossible. How could they have called to him by _howling_. It was absurd, but then again I always believed the forest held secrets. Wasn't this what I wanted?

As I regained myself, I headed back towards the trail Luke took me along. I walked briskly, suddenly freaked out about being alone. I made it his house in no time, but couldn't make it to the car before I spotted Peter with a sandwich in his hand on the front porch watching me and jumped in alarm.

"Sorry, Kate," he said, eyeing me carefully, as if he knew what I was thinking.

I put my hand to my chest and breathed heavily. "Oh! You scared me, Peter."

"Do you want to come inside?" he offered.

I nodded and stalked inside uneasily, remembering the thought I had before.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he shut the door behind me.

"Mmhmm." I didn't think words would go over well. Mumbling was good.

"Are you sure? You look like you've just witnessed a murder."

I cleared my throat. "No. I'm fine. What are you still doing here?"

He shrugged. "Got hungry again, I guess. This place is always well stocked."

"Right."

He studied me for a second as I made my way across the living room , running my hands through my hair. "Are you _sure _you're all right?"

I took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm sure, Peter."

"Okay."

"Can I get some food? I'm feeling a little hungry now."

He chuckled. "I'll make you a sandwich."

Peter led me to the breakfast bar and sat me down before going to work around the kitchen, getting various items from the small refrigerator that was crammed all the way up with food, and setting up before me. I watched as he worked.

Suddenly, a little thought crept into my mind. I wondered why Peter hadn't mentioned anything about Luke. Hadn't he wondered why I was wandering outside alone? But then I thought about the call and figured maybe not, a shiver running down my spine.

"Here you go," he said, putting an elaborate sandwich in front of me.

I took a bite without thinking about it. My taste senses were suddenly overwhelmed with a delightful taste. I looked at the sandwich.

"This is good," I said, taking another bite.

"Thank you." He took a bite out of his sandwich.

We finished chewing our large bites and swallowed.

"So," Peter said slowly, and I eyed him curiously, "did you hear the howls?"

I froze, eyeing him. "Yeah," I said slowly.

"Those were some loud howls," he noted.

"Yeah, I thought so, too."

"Have any idea what they were?" he asked, mild curiosity coloring his tone.

"I assume they were wolves," I said, taking another bite.

"Yeah, but they'd have to be pretty big wolves to make such a loud sound."

I froze again. Something came to mind that one of the boys said back when we were talking, but it was hours ago and I couldn't remember everything that was said clearly enough to recall it.

"I guess so," I said carefully.

"You know, Kevin wasn't joking when he said there were large wolves out there," Peter said, more serious now.

I leaned back in surprise. I remember now that Kevin asked me if I had seen any huge wolves on any of my hiking trips. I hadn't, of course, but Kevin said it like it was a myth. But there seemed to be some basis to it when Gerard kicked him. Was he keeping him from revealing anything? Did Peter know something?

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, talking softly. "I mean La Push has secrets you would never dream about."

I stared at him for a moment.

"What kind of secrets?"

"Secrets that go way back to our old legends. Secrets about people supposedly turning into wolves. Descendants of our tribal leaders, anyway."

"You mean like werewolves?"

"Yeah."

I paused and he studied me for a moment, then took a bite of his sandwich.

"What are you saying, exactly," I said cautiously. I wasn't going to turn down anything he said. Perhaps now I was learning one of the forest's secrets.

Peter shrugged. "Something to think about, I guess."

"Are you saying Luke is a werewolf?"

He looked at me, a smile forming on his lips.

"You catch on quickly," he observed.

That pulled me up short, and my mouth hung open. He said it as if it were fact. There was no hint of teasing in his voice and he stood as if this stuff was easy for him.

"And those calls in the forest were other werewolves?" I asked incredulously. "Who are they?"

"Well," he said, "they're not exactly strangers to you."

My mouth hung open. They were the boys. It was the only way that made sense. Their similarities that no one else shared. Their size, their heat, their strength. They were all the same, and they were, apparently, all werewolves.

This was not the kind of secret that I was expecting, but it made sense. Now everything fit together that was such a mystery to me only a few hours ago.

As I took this all in, I realized how overwhelming this day had been. Luke took me home to meet all his buddies on the second day we met, and not a few hours later, I've been introduced to a whole other realm of magical beings—werewolves.

But then my stomach lurched. Weren't werewolves dangerous? Didn't they feed on humans? Was that the reason Luke looked at me so deeply? Was I one of his prey? I banished that thought from my head. No. He was too good for that. He wouldn't prey on me, I knew it. And what about the full moon? It was getting late, but it was still daylight outside.

"Are you one, too?" I asked, although I already knew what he would say.

He nodded.

"What was the call about?" I asked.

He shrugged, suddenly becoming absorbed in his sandwich. "Werewolf business."

I nodded.

"It's getting a little late. You should get going. I'm going to have to leave soon anyway."

I looked around the small house for the first time.

"Where's Luke's father?" I asked. "He's not—?"

"Oh, no, no. He's too old for that anymore. He had some business to take care of around town," he said. He reached behind him and plucked something off the counter, then tossed me a set of keys.

"I assume Luke wanted you to take the truck?" he asked as I caught them.

"How did you know?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Intuition."

I picked out the truck key and stood.

"Have a safe drive home," he said.

I nodded, and walked out the door, still mystified about what I had just discovered.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Luke**

I felt bad about leaving Kate behind alone, but this call meant business, and it was serious business, too.

_You do know now that she'll be a target,_ Gerard said as I ran towards them in wolf form.

A growl rumbled in my chest.

_Whether you like it or not, it's true. Vampires could get to her to get to us._

_How would they know? They will never find out, _I growled. _I won't let them._

_Just making sure you understood what this all means now, _he said.

_You don't understand. When it comes to her, nothing will touch her. No damn bloodsucker will know about her. And if it means being outside her house twenty-four seven, then so be it. You can't understand what it feels like, what it would feel like to lose her. I can't let that happen._

_I feel what you feel, Luke_, Gerard reminded me, but let the subject drop.

_We found a strong trail. We're pursuing it now,_ Howard informed me.

_Got it,_ I said. _Peter? _

_What is it?_ Peter responded.

_Could you go home and make sure she gets there okay? Give her the keys to my dad's truck so she can go home? _I asked.

_Go ahead, Peter. If we need your help, we'll call, _Gerard said.

_Okay, _he said, but we knew the reluctance he had. No one wanted to miss a potential fight.

Peter phased out and I ran a little more at ease now. I found the trail and the others not a few miles from where I left Kate.

_This is so close!_ I observed.

_And we're going to make sure the bastard doesn't slip through again, _Kevin said sternly. _We think he's dancing around us and trying to get to someone._

_Let's get going. It's only thirty minutes old._

Everyone shot off, padding rapidly through the tress wherever the scent took us. No one else said anything about Kate, but I could feel from their thoughts that they really liked her, and I was excited about that.

I focused on the trail and we all automatically turned back south when the trail led there. We were shocked to find it headed straight for First Beach, where Kate and I were not too long ago, and directly onto our own territory. This vampire knows there's an opposing force here, and they testing us.

Before the trees opened up to the beach, we all stopped to make sure the coast was clear. A quick sweep around the whole place ascertained that we were alone, and one by one we darted out of the trees and followed the trail.

Gerard pulled up short so quickly Howard almost ran into him from behind.

_Do you smell that? _He asked incredulously.

Each of us took a whiff of the air. The trail cut straight through the beach, but there was another scent intermingled with it. A fleshy scent—a human.

_He took someone, _Kevin said_, _horrified.

Immediately, Gerard hung his head back and howled, and urgent calling much like the first one, only more tortured.

_Peter will be here soon. Let's get moving. We _have_ to catch this one._

We bolted further along the trail, the scent of human blood becoming more and more prominent. Gerard's legs pushed faster, determined to get to the vampire, but we all knew it might be too late.

Peter phased and he ran for us.

_Kate all right? _I asked.

_Yeah, she just left._

I saw in his mind that she stayed a little longer and ate a sandwich, but I didn't catch what they were saying.

_Peter, they took one of our own. It must have been a jogger on the beach,_ Gerard said.

_What? No!_ He caught the human scent on the trail we were following. _Do you any of you recognize that?_

_No._ _None of us. _Gerard said. _But now that you're here, we're splitting up. Each of us needs to branch out and make a net, so when we catch him, we can encircle him._

Everyone obediently spread out, multiplying our chances of catching this thing.

We ran in silence, each one of us focused on the chase. Every second, the scent of the vampire became stronger and stronger, as well as the human scent becoming bloodier and bloodier. Our anger for that pushed us faster.

Suddenly I broke through a line of trees into a small clearing. The scent around here was so strong I had to stop.

_Woah, guys, _I said. _The vampire is close by. No doubt he can hear us coming._

_Maybe it's a trap, _Gerard thought. _Everyone stay where they are, and we'll form a circle around the bloodsucker once we know his position._

Suddenly and ever so slightly, human breathing came through the trees ahead and to the right. A soft breeze blew straight towards me, and it was enough to give me the scent of a human and a bloodsucker, close together. The human was bleeding, but was still alive.

The others read that in my thoughts and immediately began padding silently toward me, forming a wide berth around where the bloodsucker stood.

I strained my precise eyesight even further to see even farther into the trees, looking for subtle hints of the white skin of the vampire. Ever so slightly, I caught a red tinge in a cluster of trees, two tiny red dots the size of marbles staring evenly at me. The height was female, and her stance seemed frightened. Perhaps she didn't know of our existence. I smiled tauntingly, bearing my sharp teeth.

Close to the leech was the unmistakable patter of an adrenaline-induced heartbeat. The girl was in the leech's arms, quivering and breathing heavily. Now that I knew what to look for, I heard and saw it all clearly.

Without a second to anticipate it, the leech tore off, human in her hands.

I loud snarl ripped through my chest as I darted after them.

_Damn it! I'm going after her,_ I growled into my head.

The others hadn't been able to get a tight circle around her, so she slipped right through a wide gap. They began the chase, but I pushed past all of them, my speed taking over.

I got close on her tail. I could hear her running only a couple yards ahead of me. She darted between trees and bushes, sometimes coming into view, sometimes not.

We heard the unmistakable snap of a neck and I caught the glimpse of the mangled female body being tossed to the side as the bloodsucker sprinted off.

I didn't stop for the body, I continued forward, my legs pushing faster and faster, even more furious now.

Howard stayed behind to guard the body in case there were more. I heard the others pushing faster behind me as well, but not as close as I was to the vampire.

I wide field opened up, with tall grass and short shrubs, giving me a clear view and an open shot at her back. Noticing her mistake, the vampire darted to the side back into the cover of the trees, but it wasn't enough.

Having the sudden advantage, I took the shot. My legs bended and lurched forward and I leapt the distance onto the bloodsucker's back, pinning her to the ground. Before she could let out a sound or writhe, my teeth bore into her neck and tugged. Her head came off easily.

The others came not long after me. Head in my mouth, I stepped aside and let them have their fun as well. We all thrilled in the success of another vampire dead and each enjoyed a part in ripping the body to pieces and burning it together. The only one not there was Howard, and he was upset not to get in on the kill.

Nevertheless, we all celebrated. It was early the next morning, the moon still shining above when we formed the bonfire and burned the remains of the leech.

Unfortunately, blood was spilt on our side, too, and we had to bear the consequences of not getting there fast enough, and that doused our excitement.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Luke**

My mind felt at ease now, knowing that the vampire stalking our territory was no longer a threat. With that, I knew my people would be safe, including Kate.

Still in our wolf forms, Peter caught that thought and something appeared in his mind, an involuntary reaction to my thought about Kate.

When I caught it, I thundered angrily, _YOU TOLD HER ABOUT US BEING WEREWOLVES?_ I rounded on him and the others heard it as well and came around.

Peter flinched from my anger, but explained himself.

_I thought _someone _should tell her sometime. She has to know if you're going to be around her all the time now. Did you think you could keep it a secret?_

_No, but _I _was going to tell her! _I roared. _Did you even think that she would be freaked out by it? For god sakes, she had just heard the howl!_

_She seemed to take it pretty well,_ Peter said calmly.

_You never know,_ I said, but I could see her reaction in his mind. It was curious, cautious, but I could see the repulsion behind her eyes. That's something only I would catch.

_No, I wouldn't have caught that,_ he said, but then he thought about how she looked when she broke through the trees and walked toward the house alone.

I groaned.

_Sorry, Luke,_ Peter said. _I should have let you handle it._

I only shut my eyes and shook my large head, my tail sweeping around agitatedly.

_But at least that's out of the way. It might be easier for you the next time you meet, _Howard suggested. Underneath his thoughts, we sensed the longing that had when he thought about telling Lilly the truth. He couldn't, of course, because imprinting wasn't the case in their relationship, so he was bound to his secret.

_Thanks for pointing it out,_ Howard said dryly to my thoughts.

_Sorry. I couldn't help it,_ I said. _But it's not going to be that easy. She'll be freaked out._

I didn't mention that she might be repulsed by me, a thought that sent little fissures along my heart, but the guys understood.

_Sorry, Luke,_ Peter repeated, hoping I would forgive him.

_Forget about it,_ I said. I had let the subject drop and it was forgiveness enough for him.

The rest of the day, I left Kate alone. I would give her time to think about what Peter had just told her, and hopefully she would find it in her heart to understand me, and accept me. I told my father about it, and he sighed, accepting that he would have to do without the truck for a whole day now, a fact of which I had forgotten about, but didn't matter as much to me.

"But the separation is good," he said. "Give her the time to think. This stuff isn't easy to swallow."

My heart panged painfully when he said "separation," making it seem like we had a bad fight.

"Go to her tomorrow and talk to her. Set her mind at ease about everything."

I nodded, noting that it wouldn't be that easy. I hoped desperately she would understand.

My father continued, "And know that it's perfectly okay for her to be afraid. It's only natural."

After that, I had to take a walk. I couldn't bring myself to phase after that, the thought of her reaction if she had seen me was enough to hold me back from it. I wondered distantly if that was the key to stop phasing forever, but put that thought away. I couldn't leave my pack now, and, fear or no fear, I couldn't deny Kate the protection. If there were more bloodsuckers about, I would want to personally be there to make sure they don't get to her.

Even as Gerard said, she would be a target now if they knew. I couldn't imagine anyone finding out, but I couldn't rule it out completely. It was a definite possibility.

Painfully slowly, night came and went. I lied in my bed, staring at the ceiling until the early morning, dreading the conversation to come with Kate, and dreading even more her reaction to me.

**Kate**

Luke hadn't appeared that night, or even the next day, for that matter. I was worried about him, but underneath I couldn't help but feel relieved.

Over the past day, I had been thinking about all that Peter had revealed to me. It was a relief to finally know the solution to all of Luke's mysterious qualities. The heat, the strength, the size. It was all because of his strange ability to change into a wolf.

I lied in bed that morning, dreading the time when he would finally come for his truck. It was Monday, and lucky for me, it was a day we had off from school.

My dad had recognized the truck from the fishing trip the other night, and asked no questions, although I could see the accusations in his eyes about him and me. I ignored the stares and avoided any loaded questions.

My brother, on the other hand, remained oblivious. He was good at that when it came to family matters. He came home early last night, turning in earlier than he's ever had, surprising my dad. But it wasn't shocking to me—it just meant he would leave early the next morning for anything mischievous he had planned that day.

I never worried about him, but I worried I would be home alone today, which meant if something happened, nobody would know for hours. I didn't like thinking like that about Luke, I knew he was safe, but my conscience was screaming trouble.

**Luke**

I had to phase that morning in order to get to Kate's house quickly. It was either run as a wolf, or walk as a human.

When I arrived at her house, it was late enough that I wouldn't catch her father. Although as I neared the driveway in human form, I ran into Kate's brother, Adam.

"Who are you?" he asked, his eyes raking me defensively.

"Luke, Kate's friend," I answered.

I knew he was sizing me up, but he was no match for me when I came face to face with him. He was tall, a good build, with sandy blonde hair, but next to me, he was still a head shorter.

I looked down at him. "Is she home?"

His eyes narrowed. "What's it to you?"

"I need the keys to my truck," I said, nodding to the lone blue truck standing in the driveway.

"Fine. She's inside. The door's unlocked," he said, turning to walk away.

I turned nervously towards the door and let myself in.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Kate**

I ascended the stairs quickly, ready for some breakfast. When I found Luke at the bottom, I stopped short, my momentum almost lurching me forward into him. He held up his hands to give me support, but I flinched backward reflexively, causing me to do a strange dance back and forth at the bottom of the stairs.

"Please don't be afraid of me," he said, holding out his hands.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, almost a little too harshly.

"Your brother let me in before he left. I told him I needed my truck back," he explained, stepping forward ever so slightly.

I leaned backward. "The keys are over there," I stated, pointing to the table where they sat in the open.

He only looked at them for a second, then I realized that's not what he really came for, and I sighed.

"Please, just listen to my story. You won't think bad about me after that," he pleaded.

"I don't think badly of you," I said, lifting my chin.

"Yes, you do. I can see it in your eyes," he said, ducking his head to get a better look down at me.

I sighed, then headed for the kitchen. "Do you want some food? Or do you prefer something more meaty," I said under my breath. He came in after me and he caught it.

"See! I _knew_ you weren't okay with me. Just don't judge before I tell you everything," he said.

I poured myself a bowl and sat down quietly at the table. He sat across from me, not taking anything for himself.

"Okay. You want me to listen, I'm listening."

"I want to tell you everything, I truly do. But, just keep and open mind, okay?"

I nodded. That was easy.

"It's true I'm a werewolf. The guys you met the other day, they are my pack," he started. "It's something that was inherited to us from our fathers. We are bound together by it."

"And you morph into giant wolves?" I asked.

"Yes."

"What do you guys eat?" I asked, staring directly at him.

He sat back in his chair, taken aback my question and the ferocity of my stare.

"You don't eat… people, do you?" I asked, my eyes adverting downwards.

His eyes widened as he stared at me, but there was no response.

"Tell me, Luke!"

Suddenly, he broke out into a smile. Annoyance crept over me and I scowled at him.

"Is that what you were afraid of? Us eating people?"

He started laughing.

"It's not funny!"

Laughing, he said, "No, it's not."

"Well, do you?" I prompted.

He shook his head. "No."

I sat back in my chair. I had an argument planned for him. I was ready to kick him out and everything, but this news had me turning back. "Really?"

"Really, really," he confirmed.

I stared down at my food for a moment, my whole guard down. "Oh."

"Were you expecting me to tell you yes? Did you really think we ate _people_?"

I nodded. "Well, in the movies…"

"Don't believe the movies. They are wrong on everything."

"What else are they wrong about?"

"The full moon. We phase whenever we want," he said.

I played with my cereal bowl, realizing I hadn't taken one bite of it yet. Since all the bad stuff was out of the way, my anger waned and curiosity took its place.

"Would I ever be able to see you?" I asked sheepishly.

"As a werewolf?" he asked.

I nodded.

He was silent, thinking about it. "Sure. Whenever you want."

I smiled.

"Maybe not right away. I don't think you're ready for that."

I nodded. I wasn't going to disagree with that.

"What about your skin?" I asked.

"My skin?"

"Yeah," I said, touching his arm resting on the table, feeling the heat from it. He froze as I did so. "What about the heat? Is that a werewolf thing?"

He nodded shakily, and I took my hand away.

"Is that why you're so big?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Does it bother you?"

I smiled. "No."

"Yes, that's another part of being a werewolf."

"Why?"

"Cause we're huge. We need the strength and the speed to catch—" He froze as if he was about to say something forbidden.

"Catch what?" I asked, leaning forward.

He shook his head. "You don't need to worry about it."

"No, tell me! What do you need to catch? You're prey?"

He shrugged. "Something like that."

I didn't think I was going to get a straight answer, so I moved on.

"Can you run fast?" I asked.

He grinned at me. "Oh, yeah."

"How fast?" I asked, intrigued.

"Faster than you can imagine."

"Will I get to see that too?" I asked, smiling deviously at him.

"Yes."

"Excellent." I scooped up some cereal in my spoon and finally took a bite.

He observed me for a while.

"I knew you would understand."

I looked up at him. "It's a little hard at first, but I know I'll get better at it."

"You're doing better already."

I smiled at him. "It would be different if it weren't you."

The mood suddenly became intimate. He stared at me, his eyes affectionate. My skin began to crawl with desire, a feeling so sudden I couldn't understand or comprehend.

After a moment, I had to look down, much like I had at the lake. His stare was too intense.

"Tell me more about werewolves. What's true about the movies and what isn't?"

"Well," he started. "There's the transformation. That's wrong. Like I said, we don't need the full moon to phase. And we look a lot like wolves when we do it, only much larger. There're no funky anatomical differences. We don't look scary. Just huge."

I absorbed this information. It was so fascinating. All along I've been longing to know about something the forest held that was hidden and secret. Now I was learning about one very huge one.

"We run in packs with an alpha. I don't know how many movies portrayed that."

"Is Gerard you're alpha?" I asked, remembering how everyone acted around him and how important he seemed the other night.

"Yeah. How did you figure that out?"

"I guess you wouldn't notice, but he has this air about him. It's just the way you guys respond to him."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"Anything else?" I asked. "What about your diet?"

He gave a small smile. "Usually we phase back to humans before we eat. But we can eat animals in to forest like any other wolf. But we think it's more humane to eat as a human. Some of us don't like eating flesh of animals. It grosses them out."

"Like who?"

"Howard and Peter. They prefer human food."

"What about you?" I asked, internally grimacing at the thought of him tearing apart an animal and eating it. I put down my spoon, my appetite suddenly waning.

He shrugged. "I will when I have to. It doesn't bother me as much as the others, but if I had to choose a cheeseburger or a deer, I'd gladly take the cheeseburger."

My stomach churned at the comparison.

"Right," I said queasily, "A deer is no cheeseburger."

"Does that bother you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. It's natural, prey and predator," I said, but my stomach still did somersaults at the thought of it.

He sat there, watching as I dipped my spoon in and out of my cereal, not taking anymore bites. Finally, I pushed it away, looking up at him.

"Not hungry?" he asked.

"Not anymore."

"Sorry about that. It's just how it is. I want you to understand."

"Why, though?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. "Why are you telling _me_ all this?"

"Because. It's like you said, I feel safe around you, comfortable. It's easy to be around you, more than other people I've been with," he answered. "I wouldn't tell anyone else because I knew they wouldn't understand like you."

"What makes me so different?" I asked.

"Well, it's partly my fault they wouldn't understand as much," he said, ignoring my question.

"How?" I asked, my brows furrowing.

"It's complicated."

I nodded. There was another thing I wasn't going to get an answer for.

"But with you, everything is different."

"Believe me, everything with you is different as well," I said.

"Indeed, it is."

"Indeed," I repeated softly.

He sighed and looked down at his hands.

"Will you meet me after school tomorrow?" he asked, looking up at me one more time.

I nodded. "But won't your father need the truck for work or something then?"

I grinned. "I thought you would have learned something by now," he said.

I looked at him blankly for a moment, and then my eyes widened. "You're going to run?"

He nodded.

"How fast can you get here?" I asked.

"If I run continuously and as fast as I can," he said, contemplating, "then about a couple seconds."

My jaw dropped and he laughed.

"That is _fast_," I said slowly.

He laughed. "So will I see you?"

"Yes. Will you be at the school by the time I get out?" I asked.

"Certainly."


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Kate**

Finals were coming next week, and with the revelation of Luke, I couldn't focus well on studying for them at all.

Yesterday, Luke stayed until after my father came home. I gave him a tour, skipping my bedroom in case it would have been too awkward, and made him lunch and talked in the living room. Luckily, Adam made an appearance around the time my father came home so it didn't look like Luke and I were completely alone in the house all day.

As I sat in English the next day, I stared expectantly at the clock, sitting on the edge of my seat with fingers straining as they bore into the desk. It was the last period of the day, and being in school seemed to too normal for me after all that had happened the past weekend. I found myself longing for something out of the ordinary today.

And indeed today that was exactly what I expected to get.

Luke agreed to meet me after school and walk me home, and I was sure he would agree to show me what his wolf form looked like. That notion in my head made me jump anxiously in my seat, waiting for the bell to ring.

Mr. Dewley, my English teacher, had turned us all loose in class to work on our end-of-the-year essay. My paper laid blank before me as I continued diligently to stare down the clock. I wasn't the only one not paying attention, though. There was another girl next to me, clicking away on her cell phone as she texted all her friends from underneath the desk. There was a handful of kids in the back passing around papers and whispering to each other.

Finally, the students around me automatically sensed it was close to bell time, and the shuffle of papers sounded throughout the classroom. Not a moment later the bell rang, and already packed, I shoved my blank paper into my bag and shouldered it. I was the first one out the door and figured Luke would be near the front and walked in that direction, but then I spotted him walking towards me from the trees beside the walk way. A shiver ran down my spine when I remembered why he would be there. I wasn't scared or disgusted, I was intrigued.

He grinned, his eyes lighting up. "Kate," he said.

"You got here faster than I thought," I observed.

He came up beside me and started walking with me. "Well, the seniors get out a few minutes before the juniors at our school," he said.

"Oh, right," I said. That wasn't my first time hearing that, but that was the first time hearing that he was a senior and I was a junior. It didn't matter, but that meant that he would be finished with school soon, and I had to return again in the fall. I couldn't help but feel anxious about his plans for post-graduation.

As we walked, I noticed some other people giving us looks, mostly towards him, of shock as they took in his size. A lot of them moved out of the way quickly before he ran into them, and giving us a wide berth. It amused me, but I couldn't pay attention to _them_.

"So you're graduating?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, luckily," he laughed.

"Is senior year hard?"

"Not really. But it's hard to focus when you're—" He looked around, remembering we were in public. "You know, _me_," he said, instead.

"Right. How would that get in the way?" I asked.

"Running is more appealing that studying. And we have our obligations…" he trailed off, as if he didn't want me to ask about those obligations.

My house was close to the school, so Luke and I got there quickly.

"Are you going to show me your transformation today?" I asked, beaming up at him.

"What? No!" he answered quickly. "It's too early for that."

"What do you mean? I'm ready for it," I said decidedly, frowning up at him.

I opened the door to my house and let him step in.

"No. Not now," he said flatly.

"Come on. I can handle it," I insisted.

He shook his head and went around to sit on the couch. His massive size took up most of it, so I sat on the other end and looked up at him.

"Why not?" I asked.

He took a coaster from the lamp stand beside him and fumbled with it like a toy in his large hands.

"I just don't want you to see it just yet," he said plainly.

I sat back and stared at him.

He was absorbed in the coaster, avoiding my eyes. There was another reason he didn't want to let me see him, but he wasn't going to say it.

"Alright then," I sighed.

"Just don't be angry with me," he pleaded. "I'll know when you're ready. Trust me."

"Okay," I said, folding my arms and accepting the fact that I won't get anything more out of the ordinary today.

"Peter's real sorry about telling you. He thought you should know, but I told him that you might be scared," Luke said.

"I'm glad someone told me, though," I said looking up at him.

He nodded. "But I wanted to be the one to do it."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're my business."

A grin crawled across my face. "I'm you're business?"

He reddened. "Yeah."

I giggled softly. "What kind of business am I to you?"

"Important business," he said, becoming serious.

"I see," I said.

"Do you?" he asked, looking down into my eyes.

I nodded and said quietly, "I do."

He stared into my eyes, a softness coming over him. It was hard to keep staring back, his gaze was so intense, but I managed well. I couldn't, however, manage the wild blushing of my cheeks.

"Hello, hello!" Adam called as the front door flew open.

I closed my eyes in annoyance and jerked my head towards him.

"Well, well, what is this?" he asked, his finger moving between Luke and me as he spotted us.

I glared at him. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"I do," he said, coming around to sit in the armchair across from the couch, "but I'd much rather like to know what my little sis is up to with a boy alone in the house."

"Nothing is up between us. Leave it alone," I said.

Adam ignored me and nodded towards Luke. "Luke, was it?"

"Yeah," Luke said, his voice becoming gruffer.

"You from the rez?" he asked.

"Yes," Luke said curtly.

Adam nodded as if this information was significant.

"What do want, Adam," I asked evenly.

He laughed. "Maybe I shall wait here until Dad comes home. I'd like to see what he thinks of you two being alone here."

"He saw Luke when he was here yesterday," I defended.

"And you were alone then, too," he said. "Maybe I'll tell him about that, as well."

"It's only been a few minutes before you arrived," I added.

"Plenty of time for some things I can think of that involves a boy and a girl, alone."

"Ugh! Adam, leave!" I cried.

He only laughed.

I grabbed Luke's hand. "Come on, Luke, let's get out of here," I growled as I pulled him to the door. Adam hooted as we passed and I kicked him in the leg. As we closed the door behind us, I still heard his boisterous laughter from inside.

"He's a lot like Kevin," Luke said as I pulled him down the street.

"He's a pain in my ass," I retorted.

"He sure is," Luke laughed. "But so is Kevin."

I slowed my walk and when I lowered my hand to let go of Luke's, his grip tightened.

"Not just yet," he said, holding it firm.

I looked up at him, but he didn't look back. He stared forward, his lips thinning across his face happily.

He walked contentedly down the street, my hand in his, letting the wind blow between us in silence. Luke's heated hand made mine clammy, but he didn't seem to notice; his fingers still held firmly onto mine, and since he was so much taller, my hand couldn't rest at my side without my elbow being bent to reach his.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**Luke**

It was like a recovering alcoholic being asked to hold someone's drink. It was bad enough that I couldn't touch Kate like I wanted to, but now that I had the feel of her skin on mine mind, it was even worse.

Kate had let me hold her hand, a trivial detail in most relationships, but not to me. When we had to let go, though, I found myself wanting to feed an addiction, wanting more than just her hand. I wanted to hold _her_. I wanted to run my fingers through her sleek hair, kiss her cheeks, kiss her lips.

It was a lot very early on, but that's what I felt. I couldn't resist it, and frankly, I didn't have the strength too.

Kate and I agreed to meet every day from then after. Every day, I ran to her house as a wolf, utilizing the fastest way possible, eager to see her face again. The more I saw her and met her, the harder it was to leave her and the lesser the time passed until I urged to see her again, until it became so that I couldn't part with her.

Though, parting was necessary, and I kept my thoughts from her so I didn't scare her. If she really knew what was going on in my head, she might run. But, then again, she might not.

Kate has ceased to surprise me everyday. She is curious, always asking questions. She seems so tolerant of what I am, I sometimes long to show her what my wolf form looks like. Though, I cannot risk it. She could become too afraid and I could not bear to see her frightened of me.

It became the weekend again, and Kate agreed to come to La Push again with me to meet up with the boys. They didn't want to stay long, as much as they loved Kate, but they wanted to scour the forests again in case the female vampire had a mate who sought revenge.

So far, nothing has happened after we last destroyed the bloodsucker. The forests have been calm and void of any unnatural flowery stench. The boys have been happy, but they sensed more action to come. The female seemed almost too easy for us. The chase was thrilling, and I enjoyed the pounce more than anything, but it didn't seem finished somehow.

**Kate**

Luke was driving me to La Push today. He said some of the boys were there, but others had to tend to werewolf matters.

I was excited to be there again. La Push, surprisingly enough, seemed even more homey than Forks. Of course, my real family was there, but they were never home, and finally there were people other than family who accepted me and let me fit in. Although, these people weren't entirely human, in a way.

That detail made me wonder if the only real friends I could attract had to be partly fantasy. That thought made me giggle inside, and I decided I was okay with that. These friends were more interesting, anyway.

Luke pulled into the gravel driveway again and this time, the house seemed so much calmer.

"Was there a lot of wolf business today?" I asked Luke as we neared the front door. He kept his hand on the small of my back as we walked—a warming gesture.

"I guess so," he said.

He opened the front door to Todd sitting at the breakfast bar eating a bowl of cereal and Peter and Howard around the corner doing laundry in the hallway. The sight of two large and burly men doing housework seemed amusing to me.

"Hey, Luke," Todd said over his shoulder without even looking.

"Hey, Dad."

"Could you come here a minute? I need to talk to you," he said, not looking up from the newspaper splayed out in front of him.

"Sure," he said, then turned to me. "Could you help them out? Make sure they don't ruin any clothes." He gestured to the boys around the corner.

I nodded and left around the corner to find two large bodies hunched over the washer, jamming at random buttons.

"Hey, Kate," Howard said, peeking from behind Peter's back.

"Hi," I responded, giving a warm smile.

"Can you help us? We're at a loss for which buttons to press…" Peter said, his brows knitting together.

I walked over to them and examined the machine, pushing the correct buttons to let the load start. They gave me an appreciative look as they rubbed their foreheads.

"What are you guys doing laundry for anyway?" I asked.

"Todd. It's a sort of payment for eating all his food," Peter said, grabbing a full laundry basket and heading into one of the rooms.

Howard and I followed. The room we walked into seemed to belong to Luke's. It had pictures of football players posted all around the plain white walls, dirty clothes scattered along the floor, and various school papers stacked up on a desk in the far corner. The bed was made with a native patterned quilt, and it seemed to not have been slept in for a while.

"Welcome to Luke's humble abode," Peter said, dumping the hamper on his bed. "We'll need to sort these. Anything below a size thirty is Todd's. We'll handle the underwear," Peter explained.

I nodded, picking at some clothes, suddenly getting the odd feeling that I was in Luke's bedroom when he hadn't been in mine. I felt curious to poke around, but I stayed where I was, sorting the laundry. The boys started throwing certain clothes into certain piles, and I followed suit.

"First time in his room?" Howard asked, noticing as I gazed around.

"Yep."

Peter eyed me anxiously as I picked up some pants and put them into the right pile. I noticed and looked up at him questioningly.

He cleared his throat as if to say something. "Sorry if I scared you when I told you about us," Peter apologized to me. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought you should know."

"Do you usually tell everyone who becomes friends with one of the guys?"

He shook his head. "No, not necessarily."

"Am I the exception?"

"Yeah. It has to do with imprinting. Wolf stuff," Howard added, a little sullenly, as he picked up a pair of socks and tossed them into a pile.

I stared at him, so he clarified.

"Imprinting. It happens when we look into the eyes of our soul mates. We feel a deep longing to be with that person, as they become our other half, so to speak—" He waved his hand around dismissively. "—After that, we don't see anyone but her."

I couldn't help but to think of the first time I saw Luke.

Peter continued, "It's a seriously deep connection that lasts for life. It's not necessarily forceful, just natural."

"Imprinting? Sounds serious," I said.

Peter nodded somberly.

"Have you ever imprinted?" I asked Howard, doubting that he had. He would have talked about the subject differently if he had imprinted on his soul mate. And that's when I realized what Howard must have been worrying about with his girlfriend. Obviously, he hadn't imprinted on her, and he was worried about when the time would come when he would actually imprint on someone. He would, of course, have to leave his girlfriend.

"No. But Luke has," he said.

"He has," I said. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. "Who is she?"

Peter stopped mid-throw with a shirt in his hand and stared at me. "Honey, it's you."

My eyes widened. Luke imprinted on _me_?

But then I thought more about why Luke would want to hang around me so much and felt silly for not realizing it was me. The strange look he gave me when I first saw him on the street, how he was attached to me the first time we met at the lake, how ever since he always managed to show up at my house, invited or not.

"You're the exception because he's imprinted on you. He can't be away from you for very long. For Christ's sake, he runs around your house every night for you. He needs you. So naturally, we have to let you be the exception."

"When was Luke going to tell me this?" I asked.

"Probably never," Peter said. "He's like that. You have to pry some things out of him sometimes. He might have thought you were creeped out and he didn't want you to leave him."

I nodded, absently picking a sock from the large pile of clothes.

"And is that why he doesn't want to show me himself when he phases?" I asked.

They both stopped and stared at me. "You want to see that?" Howard asked, his eyebrows raising.

"Well, yeah."

The hesitated, then Howard narrowed his eyes at me. "You're not creeped out by any of this?"

My brows furrowed. "Why would you tell me this if you thought I would be creeped out? I want to see his wolf form," I repeated decidedly.

They both looked back down at their sorting.

"You're right," Howard mumbled to Peter. "She _does_ take these things well."

"Do you guys think your wolf form is scary?" I asked, ignoring his comment.

"No, but we would have thought humans would think otherwise."

I shrugged. "Well, I'll just have to see, won't I?"

Peter nodded. "I assume so."

"And I assume Luke doesn't want to show you because he would think you'd be freaked out. But I guess he doesn't know you at all," Howard added.

Right then, Luke popped his head in the doorway, his eyes narrowed.

"What are you guys telling her?" he asked.

"About why you wouldn't want to show her your room," Peter lied smoothly.

Luke stepped in and came to my side at once. "Yeah, right."

"We were just sorting your clothes," I said.

He looked down at each of our hands, caught sight of the light blue plaid boxers in Howard's hands and turned bright red. He snatched them from his hands and hid them behind his back.

"We can leave now," he suggested.

I stifled a giggle. "Okay."

"See you later, Kate," Peter and Howard nodded.

"Bye, guys."


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**Kate**

"Show me, please?" I pouted as Luke walked me down the path to the beach again.

"No."

I tugged on his arm. "Please?"

I had been prodding him the moment he shut the door to his house and the whole way down the path, hoping he would give in and forget about his silly qualms about me being afraid.

"No," he said finally.

"Why not?" I asked, my brow furrowing angrily.

"Because."

"Is it because you think I'll be afraid?"

He didn't answer.

I thumped him in the arm. "Do you really think I would run away from you?" I asked angrily.

He still didn't answer.

I growled as he led me over to the same washed up log as before and we sat down. Just a week ago, I stood here and watched Luke run into the forest, phasing into wolf form so close to me, yet completely out of view. How in reach of it I had been just last week! If only he would let me be so lucky again…

"You're really frustrating, Luke, you know that?"

A smiled broke on his lips, but faintly. "Is that so?"

"Yes," I said decisively. "Just _show_ me. I won't be afraid!"

"I can't risk it," he said.

"Ugh! You're hopeless! Do you really think I'm such a coward? Do you not know me at all after running around my house all the time?"

"I knew it! They told you, didn't they? They never learn!" he growled furiously, his fist balled up tightly.

"Yeah, they told me. And I don't care!" I grabbed his face and made him look me in the eyes. "See, Luke? I don't care!"

He stared at me carefully, measuring my expression. I lowered my hands and put them on his fists; they loosened up immediately.

"They told me that you run around my house, they told me about imprinting, how you need me, and everything," I explained, lowering my voice.

He hesitated. "And you don't care?" he asked carefully, his eyes brightening.

I took a deep breath to steady my voice and said calmly, "No. And that's the truth."

That did it. A smiled broke through his lips and he beamed at me. His face was positively glowing with happiness,

"Really? You still want to be with me?" he asked.

I nodded. "And I still want to see every side of you. _Including_ the wolf one."

He sighed and looked down at my hands on top of his. He thought for a moment, then slowly stood up.

"And you promise you wont run away?" he asked, eyeing me.

I laughed. "I won't! Just show me already."

He took a deep breath and grabbed my hands, leading me to the forest.

"We can't do it in the open," he said.

"Of course."

"Let me take you to a place I know of."

I nodded, letting him take me wherever he wanted.

We walked silently through the forest for a while. Finally, a small clearing opened up. It was large enough for a person and a large animal, perfect for the very thing we were going to do. The rare afternoon sun beamed down into it and made the dew on the grass sparkle in the light. He positioned me in the middle. Then he started backing away into the trees.

"Where are you going?" I asked, stepping towards him.

He chuckled. "I have to take my clothes off, first. They don't phase with me."

I blushed at the obviousness of it. "Oh."

Finally, he backed away into the trees, completely concealed. I could hear the faint brushing of his shorts and shirt on the ferns around the trees. There was a faint ripple in the air, a slightly tangible feeling like a sudden burst of warm air, and I knew he had done it.

I stood there motionless, staring curiously at the spot at which he had disappeared. My skin prickled with the adrenaline I was feeling. Moments passed, and he still had not materialized, so I lifted my hand, palm up, encouragingly.

There was no warning sound, the creature moved so silently. My heart gave a start when the massive form appeared slowly through the trees, but I mastered it, and smiled.

Luke was huge. So huge, in fact, that it was inconceivable to think that that huge animal belonged inside Luke. But as I stared at him, I did not feel fear. The wolf was clearly Luke; I could see him in his eyes as he stared observantly at me, careful as to not frighten me.

But as massive as the creature was, he was beautiful. His fur was a deep chocolate brown that gleamed proudly in the sunlight. His eyes were the same as his human ones, dark brown, holding intelligence no other animal possessed.

To show Luke I wasn't scared, arm still raised, I took a step forward. Luke whimpered cautiously, but I ignored him and stepped closer still, until I was close enough to touch the fur on his face. I lowered my hand and waited, hoping Luke would make the move, now.

Cautiously and ever so slightly, his head lowered, his eyes still on mine. A low grumble shook through the animal, a cautious sound.

"I'm not scared," I told him aloud, then raised a hand.

The great wolf closed his eyes, waiting.

No doubt my heart was racing uncontrollably, but it was only for the wild excitement I felt at seeing something so magical.

My fingers inched forward until I felt the tips of the fur on his massive cheek at eye level. I pressed my hand to it, my fingers moving through the fur. A satisfied moan sounded through his large throat, and I giggled.

At that moment, I wasn't cautious, and even though Luke still was, he had loosened up. I took another step forward, moving around to the side of the wolf, using both hands to rub exploringly through the fur.

Luke was still grumbling, until his mouth opened into a wide wolfy grin, revealing a row of massive razor sharp teeth. My breath caught and I jumped back involuntarily in fright, holding my hands close to my chest.

Luke caught his mistake and snapped his mouth shut. His eyes closed, his ears went back, and he whimpered, lowering himself to the ground as if to say "sorry."

I let my breathing return to normal before stepping forward again.

"I'm not afraid," I repeated, more for myself.

He had lowered himself completely to the ground and was laying down now, his eyes still anxiously closed, as if he didn't want to see me run if I chose to do that.

Suddenly wanting to comfort him, I took a valiant step forward and lowered myself down to the ground beside him. Even as I kneeled beside him, he was still taller. I propped myself up against his massive shoulder and starting rubbing his fur again.

His eyes slowly opened and looked back at me. I smiled at him, and he closed his eyes, this time in content.

The both of us sat there for hours—me, rubbing his fur all around, him laying down and enjoying the massage from my curious fingers. Over and over again, my hands swept through his long chocolate fur, loving the soft feel of it, feeling his rough muscles underneath.

At some point, I fell asleep curled up next to him in the hot sun. I had wrapped my arms around one of his front legs and held myself close, his large paw by my head. Luke had curled up around me, protecting me and warming me up against the cool wind that was forming.

Both of us lay there, basking in the magic that was forming between us as we held each other close.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

**Kate**

I awoke to warmth of Luke beside me, in his human form; he had changed back sometime while I slept and dressed again. I looked up at him as he cradled me in his large arms and he smiled back.

"Where's your shirt?" I asked, feeling his bare chest beneath me.

He chuckled. "It's just easier," he responded. "We're so hot, we don't need the extra layers."

"Oh, right," I said, feeling the burn of his chest against my cheek.

As I lay there, he stroked my hair, running his fingers in and out of the strands splayed out all around. The feeling was pleasing, sending the occasional tingle down my neck when his fingertips brushed my scalp.

I closed my eyes and sighed happily. "Tell me more about being a werewolf."

His fingers slowed as he pondered what to say. "The communication we have between each other is really cool," he started.

"How so?" I asked.

"When in wolf form, we can hear each other thoughts," he explained. "No matter how far we are from each other."

"Every thought?" I asked.

"Every thought," he confirmed.

"I think that would be rather annoying," I noted.

He shrugged. "It is. But we're all so close it doesn't matter what we think. And you get used to it after a while."

"What else?"

"We can heal super fast. If I were to cut myself right now, it would heal completely in a couple minutes."

"Seriously?" I asked, my brow furrowing.

He nodded.

"Want to see?" he asked.

"No," I said hastily. "That's one theory I can stand to be untested, thank you."

He laughed, continuing, "and the heightened abilities." A smile colored excitement in his tone. "The smell, the hearing, the strength, the sight. It's amazing."

I smiled at his innocent excitement.

"Right now, I can smell you."

I laughed. "Really? Do I smell bad?"

"Not at all. Quite the opposite."

I blushed. "What else do you smell?" I asked.

"The dirt. The trees. The ocean. It's about a fifty feet to the right."

"Wow," I breathed.

"I can hear it, too," he said. "The waves are angry, there's a storm coming soon."

I opened my eyes and looked up at him, my chin resting on his chest, so close to his own face.

"I can hear your heartbeat—" he put a hand on the side of my neck, causing my heart to pound suddenly faster, making him smile.

His hand moved forward to rest on my cheek. I could feel his breath on my mouth.

"Peter and Howard told me about imprinting," I said, my voice quivering.

"Another werewolf thing," he said. "I hope you understand how I feel."

I nodded my head slowly. "That you can't control it. It's just something that happens."

"And that I can't be away from you. That a bond somehow deeper than love binds me to you," he added, looking meaningfully into my eyes.

I shook my head. "How does it work?"

"You're my soul mate. It's as plain as that. I suppose it's just part of being a werewolf that makes it so much more potent."

I took a deep breath, taking what he last said. "Soul mate," I breathed.

He nodded seriously, gazing into my eyes.

I looked down at his chest and contemplated nervously what I would do next. When I looked back up at him, he suspected it too, and his lips parted. Slowly, I pulled myself closer to him, until my face was not an inch from his. His hands held strongly on either side of my back, gripping my shirt tightly in his hands, his eyes became smoldering in anticipation, his eyes overflowing with desire. Carefully, I let my lips brush his, testing the waters that I was vastly trudging into.

Soon, he could take it no longer. Our lips were joined together. Moving in tandem, flowing effortlessly as if it were meant to be. In that moment, we weren't two beings. We weren't the girl and the werewolf. We were joined together as one being, one mass of burning bodies wound together unbindingly.

His hands knotted through my hair, crushing me to his body, our pounding hearts moving together, side by side. I wound my arms around his neck, pulling myself even closer.

I did not contemplate what I was getting myself into, I did not anticipate that I would feel this way. Just this morning I thought of Luke as an impossibly close friend, who had the potential to be more, whom I could see myself with for many years to come. I didn't think that he would be my soul mate, and that we were destined to be together. Frankly, in that moment I didn't mind, and it didn't matter that my first relationship was going to be the only one I would possibly ever have. No, that did not matter. What mattered was that it was so impossibly easy to find him, and so impossibly easy to be with him.

Finally, yet unfortunately, there came the time when we both had to break apart for air. Both of us were panting, eyes wide at our new found attraction. He looked up at me in astonishment, as I took in deep breaths. He had found his breath quicker and was now kissing me all over, as if he had been deprived of it for so long.

I laid my forehead against his, closing my eyes and taking my last deep breaths.

"This is happening so fast," I said incredulously.

"Would you like me to slow it down for you?" he asked, gazing softly into my eyes.

I shook my head. "No."

He smiled and slowly kissed my nose, my forehead, and each of my cheeks and held me close. His hands lowered from my hair and wrapped around my waist, securing me to his chest. I lowered my head and rested it underneath his chin, lying on top of his massive body.

As we laid there together, he gave me one last kiss on the top of my head.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

**Kate**

Luke was at my house everyday after that afternoon in the forest together. He didn't mind sitting around when we had nothing to do; he often stared affectionately at me while I did my homework when he was supposed to be doing his. Whenever I caught him, it made me blush, and that only made him grin and stare longer as he watched the red fade from my cheeks.

"You're incredibly beautiful," he said one day, making my cheeks turn red again.

"Thank you," I said, glancing up from my homework.

"I'm so glad I can tell you that."

"How long was it when you couldn't? Two weeks?" I asked.

"Two weeks too long," he said.

After homework, he usually took me around the forest, occasionally phasing and letting me walk beside him, my fingers entangled in his fur.

"Could you let me ride you?" I asked, glancing over at him, smiling.

His large wolf eyes looked questioningly at me, and then he grinned.

Ever since he had given me a full wolfy smile back in the small clearing, he had managed to keep his teeth hidden behind his lips in case he would scare me again. I was sure I could handle it the second time since I knew what to expect, but I wasn't going to push it, either.

Luke's wide shoulders lifted and dropped in a shrug, and he lowered himself to the ground. Surprised he would say yes so easily, I climbed up, grabbing his fur along the way.

He went slowly at first, barely at a stroll, making sure I had learned his movements and knew how to sit. Then he sped it up to a normal walking pace as I held a firm grip onto the fur on the back of his neck. The skin was tough and resilient, so I knew I wouldn't hurt him no matter how hard I gripped it.

After a while, the walk became relaxed. Luke wasn't worrying anymore that I would fall off, and I didn't fear it either. There was enough room on his wide shoulders so that I leaned forward and laid my head on the back of his neck, feeling his lulling regular movements. I almost fell asleep, but decided against it, in case I flopped off the side.

**Luke**

Gerard was laughing in my head.

_Stop,_ I said, more playful than reprimanding.

_She's riding your back? _he asked.

_Yes. She is._

_You have to admit, Kate's kind of cute. _

I knew he wasn't making the comment about her looks, but the way she acted. She was so young at heart it made him smile.

_She is. You don't have to remind me of that._

_Oh, we all know, Luke._

With Kate's head resting against my neck, she said in my ear, "Is there anyone in your head?"

I nodded, her head moving up with mine as she laid there.

"Tell whoever it is that I said 'hi,'" she said, her voice relaxed as she rode my back.

I grunted.

_Got the message,_ Gerard said. _But there's nothing here for me to do. I'm phasing back._

_See you later,_ I said, and ambled on, with Kate pressed wonderfully against my back.

**Kate**

Luke was on my couch watching a movie with me. He had remembered _Sound of Music _was my favorite, so he found it in my cupboards and put it in while I was making sandwiches. My feet were resting on his lap as he rubbed them, and he didn't even seem to mind watching musicals.

Suddenly, he put my feet aside and sat up straighter. I gave him a questioning look and he glanced meaningfully at the door. I pulled my legs up and stared ahead. Sure enough, the door opened not a second later and in came my dad.

"Hey, Kate," he said.

I looked back at him, noticing he was staring at Luke. "Hey dad—" I sat up and turned around so that I was facing backwards at my dad "—you remember Luke, right? From the rez?"

He nodded. "Sure. Todd's boy. I've been meaning to go out to La Push to go fishing again," he said, absent-mindedly.

"Hello again, Mr. Harris," Luke said cordially, standing up.

My dad nodded. "Nice to see you again."

"It sure is. I was just keeping your daughter company," Luke said.

I glanced furtively at my father, waiting for his reaction.

"That's real nice of you," he responded, seeming mildly interested.

"He was just getting ready to leave anyway," I said, shutting off the movie.

"That's right, Mr. Harris," Luke said.

"Please, Luke, call me Jeffrey," my dad said, a little blunt.

"Sure. Goodbye, then."

I followed Luke to the front door as my dad put his things away in the hall closet. I followed him out and grabbed his arm before he left.

"Will you come back over?" I asked, holding tight onto his arms.

"When? Tonight?" he asked, his brows furrowing.

I looked sheepishly down at my hands. "Sure, why not? Could you jump through my window if I left it open?" I asked.

His lips broke into a smirk. "It's like you don't know me at all," he sighed, kissing me on the forehead. "See you tonight."

He turned and left down the walk way and straight into the forest. I smiled at his back until he was clearly out of view. Reluctantly, I turned to go back inside.

"What's for dinner?" Dad asked.

"Oh, I don't know. What did you think of Luke?" I asked.

He took a long gulp of his beer before answering. "He's alright."

I looked over at him. "Alright? Just alright?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't seem surprised to see that he was here," I noted.

He sighed. "The neighbors talk. They tell me everything they see."

I froze a little. Had we ever walked too close to any of the houses while in the forest? Had they seen something they shouldn't have?

"You don't seem to like it very much," I observed.

He sighed. "He's a little old for you," he said.

"By only a year."

"And he's going to graduate this week and he'll go off to school somewhere."

I had completely forgotten about graduation. I still didn't know whether he was staying or not.

"We'll figure something out," I said.

He nodded, dropping the subject.

That night I had showered, dressed for bed, and opened my window wide so Luke could come through. I lied there in bed, staring tirelessly at the ceiling, waiting for him to come. It was then that I realized that he still hadn't seen the inside of my bedroom, tonight would be his first time.

It was well into the night, long after, I'm sure, my father and brother had fallen asleep. My family weren't light sleepers, but I knew Luke would be certain the house was dead before he ever treaded into my bedroom at night.

As I laid there, I listened for his movements, hoping I would be able to catch them in the silent night. It was cloudy, but there were no storm clouds and there hadn't been all day. I was certain it would start soon. I propped myself on my elbow and looked towards the window, wondering if he was out there, waiting like I was.

Try as I might to hear him, he appeared soundlessly in my window, poking his head in and smiling.

"Hey, there," he said, stepping soundlessly in with all the gracefulness he had.

I smiled and got up from my bed and pulled him towards me, kissing him on the lips.

He gave a throaty sound in surprise, and then whispered when we broke apart, "Maybe I should come over more often at night."

I laughed and pulled him down to sit beside me on the bed. He had he shirt off, as usual. I stared at him as he looked around my room, discovering it for the first time.

"Like it?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

He nodded and looked back at me. "Very much so."

"I knew you would."

He chuckled and leaned forward to kiss me again. I smiled and pulled him down with me. He agilely rolled the both of us over until he was beneath me, so he didn't have to hold himself up to avoid crushing me.

The night wove on from there: We didn't do much more than talk, but since I had waited quite a while for him to appear through my window, it was very late and I fell asleep as soon as we stopped talking. He remained underneath me, holding my to his chest like a small child.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

**Kate**

I couldn't stop thinking about Luke, no matter how hard I tried to focus on other things. He was the light to the cloudy days of Forks. He was essentially my everything, a profound part of myself. He was becoming such a dominant part in my life that it was customary to see him every day.

Although, it was the Tuesday before finals that week and Luke's father had ordered him to stay home in order to effectively study for them. I figured this was a good time to catch up on my own finals, but couldn't find the will to sit down and get to work on it.

Before I met Luke, I had always walked outside the forests along the streets, wondering about the mysteries within. Now that I knew of Luke and everything else, I found it difficult to stay out of them, always mystified of how it felt to me, walking through the trees. I was good at finding my way, so I seldom got lost.

Ever since Luke revealed himself to me, I had accepted that as the only mystery of the forest. But there was more I had yet to discover.

That cloudy afternoon as I trudged through the forest shrubs and mud in my rain boots, letting the music of the trees lead me forward, I recalled all the intriguing conversations I had about Luke and him being a werewolf. I couldn't help but linger on the brief things he said dismissively about their purpose and their prey. I had no idea what it could be, and I was intrigued to find out.

But walking through the forest, the scurries of the small forest animals and the calls of the birds became even more few and far between, until they had stopped altogether. I had never experienced such a stillness in the forest as I had now. Yet the music of the forest continued, until I realized it was a voice.

Subconsciously, I slowed my pace and kept a watchful eye around the forest.

It was not a few minutes that I heard a faint humming ahead of me, a tune of a male voice. It was a melody I had never heard, but it was soothing, and sounded better than any other sweet music I had ever heard before.I looked towards the sound, hoping to connect a body to the voice. I searched, squinting into the trees ahead of me as I walked, but when the voice spoke, it was beside me.

"Hello, there," he said, his speaking voice as musical and appealing as his singing one.

I looked towards the sound and my breath caught in my throat at the sight of the wondrous creature walking parallel to me, not ten feet off. He was magnificent, his face of an unexplainable beauty, something that couldn't be described, but only looked at.

"How are you?" he asked, looking at me, making my heart falter.

I noticed the unmistakable red of his eyes. A red so bright it was hard to think it was human.

"Fine," I muttered clumsily.

He chuckled musically.

I stopped walking and just gaped at him, then I noticed the other qualities of his appearance: his hair was stark black, much like Luke's, yet his skin was marble white, and glowed dimly in the cover of the overcast skies. His stride ended with mine, but it was just as remarkably graceful as Luke's was, fluid and soundless.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

The awe began to wane and I sensed danger. His looks had a luring quality to them, and it wasn't endearing. He gave me a cocky grin as I stared.

"What are you?" I asked shakily.

"Well surely your boyfriend hasn't told you? The werewolves aren't the only magical thing of these forests."

My mouth dropped. How could he know that? I suddenly wished that Luke was there beside me, wanting the safety of his presence.

He stepped closer, his intense gaze never leaving mine. "I am a vampire, dear Kate."

"How do you know my name?" I asked. "How do you know about the werewolves?"

He only chuckled once more, walking forward. When he spoke, his voice was poison.

"The werewolves are childish, mindless, creatures. They just _have _to intervene in our affairs."

My body shook and I flinched when he spun around.

"They don't know what they inflict when they kill us, silly creatures. But I'm sure dear Luke will find out how it feels to lose a mate soon, won't he, dear Kate?"

My eyes widened as I realized what he meant. My pulse raced and I panicked as I shouted out as loud as I could. "LUKE!"

The vampire laughed. "There's no use. The werewolves are too busy to come to your aid, now. My friends have kept them… busy." His lips formed a vicious smirk.

"What have you done?" I shrieked, pulling my fingers through my hair.

"Nothing for you to worry about. Once I'm finished here, I'll call off my friends."

"No!" I spun around and ran through the trees, away from the vampire. Though, my attempts were futile. He leaped in front of me, blocking me, and bared his teeth, a sinister look in his eyes.

"Luke," I mumbled. "Luke, Luke, Luke."

"He can't help you now."

As a last attempt, I let out a bloodcurdling scream, hoping somewhere in the forest a werewolf would hear me. The vampire was going to smile at my feeble attempts again, until there was an unmistakable howl in the distance. The vampire's lips pulled back.

"Now you've done it," he snarled.

I started off again, but he hit me square in the back, sending me flying. I landed on a damp bed of needles, making my landing soft, but my knee slammed into a tree root and the force of the push knocked the wind out of me. Through the trees, I heard a growl and turned myself around to face the angry vampire, but his attention was on something else, something coming from the left.

"Damn it!" he shouted, and a large chocolate brown wolf lurched through the trees and thudded into the vampire, emitting the feral growls I had heard not a second ago.

"Luke!" I shouted.

The two of them flew out of sight, only the sound of hard thuds and tears and growls reaching me.

Not a second later, two more wolves came through, one jet black and the other silver, coming to the aid of Luke. I wondered who they were as another two came through the trees behind me—a sunny light brown and a russet brown wolf. The sunny-brown one positioned itself in front of me while the red-brown wolf dragged me by the hood of my jacket. I look over at him and he lifted his head twice to signal me to get on his back. He lowered himself and I stepped up, much like I had when I rode Luke, but this time the wolf shot off as soon as I was on. I gripped the russet fur tightly, my eyes widening and my knee throbbing.

I shook my head clear and shouted to the wolf, "How is Luke? What is happening?"

The wolf didn't stop or signal to me until I saw the dirt road near my house through the trees. He stopped and let me down and I stared at him.

"What is happening back there?" I demanded. I grabbed the wolf's face and stared into his eyes. "Luke! Where are you?"

The massive wolf pulled away and turned to the trees and walked away.

"Wait! Don't leave me here!"

I stood there waiting, alone for a second, then Kevin came from around a large tree, wearing nothing but cut-off sweats.

"Thanks for yelling into my face," he said, coming to stand in front of me.

"Sorry. Thanks for saving me."

He shrugged. "Not a problem."

"What's going on?" I asked, a little more calmer.

"I only phased to tell you. I'll have to get back soon, but we were ambushed back at La Push."

Me eyes widened.

"No one was killed," he assured me quickly, "We led the fight more into the forest, halfway between La Push and Forks. That's when Luke heard your scream and he darted off. The other leeches all ran off—we don't know where they went. We think it has something to do with a female vampire we killed a few weeks ago."

"That sounds right. He was going to kill me because of someone you killed. It sounded like revenge," I informed him.

Kevin's face became angry. "Damn bloodsucker," he spat under his breath. "Are you alright?"

I looked down at my knee. There was a blood splotch on the denim there. "I hit my knee, but nothing too bad."

He nodded. "Luke's angry," he added.

"He is?"

"Absolutely enraged. He wanted the pleasure of killing the leech himself."

There was a momentary silence as I took a deep breath to steady myself. "So that's what you guys hunt?" I asked. "What Luke tried to keep away from me?"

"He seems to keep a lot from you. I don't see what good it does, seeing as what just happened."

I nodded. "There are vampires? Do they really drink blood?"

"And kill people, yes," he said, not even thinking of using the soft tone Luke uses when he explains these things to me. "But I have to get back. I'll stay with you, but I need to know what's going on."

I nodded, allowing him to wander off into the forest again to phase.


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

**Kate**

Kevin laid beside me, the light brown of the road always in sight. I sat with my legs curled up to my chest, my arms wrapped around them. I was able to tell what was going on in the fight by Kevin's movements. When he lifted his head, something unexpected happened, when he growled, someone was hurt on our side, when his mouth opened into a wolfy grin, something happened in our favor.

But when he stood up suddenly, I stood up too, looking at him for some indication to what happened. His tail swept around agitatedly, and he leapt forward, but didn't leave me. He moved back and forth, not moving forward, as if there were a barrier holding him back. A mix of angry growls and tortured whimpers came from his snout.

I stood in front of him and made him stop. "What! What happened?"

He just looked towards the forest, listening intently to what was going on in his head, and maybe to the things that I couldn't hear in the distance.

He was taking deep breaths when he finally stopped pacing again. He moved back over to the spot where we were laying and planted himself. I returned to the spot also, anxiously waiting for this gruesome hour to be over with, and watching Kevin's reactions closely.

Finally, Kevin relaxed and I became alert. He stood calmly as he looked through the trees, surely waiting for someone to appear. Soon enough, two wolves appeared, one black and one silver, but not the one I was waiting for. And then, behind the two great wolves, came Luke in his human form, walking swiftly towards me, miraculously unharmed. I breathed a deep sigh of relief and ran towards him. He held out his arms and I ran into them.

"I was so worried," I said.

"I'm glad you're not hurt," he whispered, running his fingers through my hair.

"Me, too."

I looked around at the wolves, suddenly recognizing one was missing. I gasped and looked up at him, thinking the worst, and wondering which dearest werewolf it was that was lost.

"The sunny-brown one?" I asked, gazing up at him.

"Howard. He's alive, though badly hurt. We had to leave him to let him heal."

I looked up at him and measured his expression. "I'm so sorry I went into the woods alone. I didn't know—"

He stopped me. "It's okay. If anything, it's my fault. I kept the truth from you." His lips pursed as he measured my expression.

"What happened?" I asked.

He didn't answer me. "I'll feel better once I know you're inside. Come on, let's get you home," he said, taking my arm.

The wolves around started to run back into the forest to be there for Howard as we strode onto the vacant road, Luke's stride was a little more anxious than mine.

"What happened? Did they get away?" I asked.

"There were two females and two males. A week or so back, we killed another female, which we guess was the mate to the male who… attacked you," he choked. "The male and the two females ambushed us near La Push, giving the other male time to deal with you."

"Yeah, that's what Kevin said. Did you kill any?" I asked.

"We killed the two males," he said. "After the last male died, the two females ran off. Though, it's not over."

"What does that mean? They'll come back?" I asked, my voice raising a pitch in fear.

He looked at me and didn't say anything.

"Don't lie to me. I want the truth," I demanded.

"They will most certainly come back," he said softly.

I nodded. I couldn't help the rapid pulsing of my heart. Luke noticed and placed his arm around my shoulders. When he spoke, he was more determined.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I absolutely will make sure that no damn vampire will ever hurt you. I should have known what being with you when I am a werewolf would mean."

"Why is that?"

"Because we kill vampires. Eventually we will stumble upon a vampire who has a mate, and vampires aren't forgiving when their mate has been killed. Naturally, they can find out about you and seek for revenge."

My house came into view and he led me to the door. He didn't pause as he opened the door and led me up the stairs of the empty house. He closed my bedroom door behind us, sat me down on my bed, and held me close.

"Are you regretting it?" I asked after a moment of staring at his passive face.

"Regretting what?"

"Being with me?"

He didn't answer, but chewed on his fingernail.

"Please don't."

He shook his head. "If I'm with you, you'll be a target. Gerard was right. I can't stop it from happening."

My voice rose at his response. "And you can't stop it from happening even if you aren't with me," I retorted.

He just looked at me.

"It's too late! You've already confessed your love for me out in the open in the forest." He flinched at my words. "I haven't been around vampires much, but I got just enough out of that one in the forest who was trying to kill me that they are intuitive. And who knows? They could already know that you've imprinted on me, and that no matter if you're with me or not, I will still be the target to get to you."

"I'm not saying we should break up!" he responded passionately.

"Then what are you saying? I can't understand you."

When he responded, his voice was harsh. "Just know this: I can't stand to see you dead. When you die, so will I. Got that?"

"Got it," I snapped, scowling at him.

I didn't know why I was so angry. Maybe it was because it maddened me to see Luke question our relationship. Sure there was a lot of danger involved when I was first started seeing him, and I wasn't entirely informed on that danger, but I knew now. And I knew that I didn't want to stop loving Luke.

Luke didn't dare risk leaving me alone, so he sat on the edge of my bed scowling at the floor. I couldn't help but smile at how he looked so large on my bed, yet so young. I sighed and crawled into his arms. He didn't protest and held me tight. When he spoke, his voice was quivering, as if he were crying.

"I don't want to be angry with you. It's just that I got the first glimpse of what it might be like to lose you when I heard your scream. Don't underestimate the power that has on my heart."

I nodded and felt his tear trickle down my neck. I looked up to his moistened eyes and kissed his lips.

"I love you, Luke," I said.

Despite his tears, he beamed at me. "I love you, too, Kate."

"I know what I'm getting myself into," I told him. "This is all voluntary. You're not making me do anything I don't want to do. Got that?"

He nodded. "Got it."


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

**Kate**

"I can't believe I got you to say 'I love you,'" Luke beamed. He held me closer to his chest as we still sat on my bed inside my vacant house.

I ran my fingers through his feathery black hair. "You didn't get me to say anything I didn't want to."

He smiled down at me. "You are my world, Kate Harris," he said softly in my ear. "And it means the world to me to know that I'm your world as well."

He stroked my face and watched my cheeks color red.

"But do you know what this means?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"I'm going to have to stay with you almost twenty-four seven. Can you handle that?"

"I think I can bear it," I said, and leaned in to kiss his lips. Once we broke apart, he wasn't smiling.

"Though, I am serious as well. If it's revenge the vampires want, it's you they're going to try to get to. I can't risk another moment like the one that just happened."

"So you're going to be here all the time?" I asked.

"At least until school is out."

"I like the sound of that."

"Then you can come over to La Push all the time where we can better protect you."

"La Push? _All_ the time?"

"Well, yeah," he said. "The best way we can protect you is at La Push. We can't all hang out at your house all the time."

"But what about my family? That vampire was in the forests near my house. He obviously knew where I lived. They could get to my family, too!" My voice rose a pitch in fear at the thought of a vampire like the one before entering my house.

"We can have someone guard your house, if you really want that."

I shook my head. I didn't want to subject one of the boys to guarding my house for me all the time while I played in La Push. "No, that's not what I want. I want to stay here, with you. _You_ can guard my house."

"No, Kate, that's not the point. The point is to guard_ you_. You're more important in this situation, not your family."

"Well they are important to me!"

"Never mind that, Kate. Aren't you afraid? You were just attacked by a vampire. You just learned vampires exist at all."

I shook my head. "I _am_ really scared. Though, I'm afraid they'll come back, and you guys won't be so lucky next time."

His eyes widened. "You're worried about us? Please, Kate, don't worry about us. We're built for this. It was _you_ who was very nearly killed tonight."

"I know that, but you matter more to me."

"_I _matter more to you? Really, Kate, you don't have to worry. You're the breakable one," he assured me.

But I was far from assured. "_Breakable_?" I asked, sitting up straighter. "What do you mean _breakable_?"

His determined expression became confused. "You, know, you're so small. And fragile…"

My stare stopped his words. "Fragile," I repeated. "You think I'm fragile?"

Luke sighed. "Kate, don't take it the wrong way."

"No, Luke. _You _don't take it the wrong way. I was just tossed around by a vampire and do you see me complaining? Do you really believe I am weak?"

"Well, you're not exactly not like me—"

"Not like you. You're right; I'm not like you. But in my own right, that doesn't exactly mean I'm fragile or weak."

"Kate, that's not what I _mean_—"

"I really don't want to talk about this anymore, okay?"

I lifted myself from his lap and sat apart from him on the bed. He stared at me for a moment.

"No," he finally said. "I'm not done talking about this."

"Please Luke, I don't want to fight anymore. I don't like to fight with you."

"Really? I love fighting with you," he said, turning towards me.

I looked up at him questioningly. "Well I don't!" I shouted. "I want to be around you and just _not_ yell."

"Well tough. Cause you're yelling right now and it's turning me on."

I snorted and looked away. He took me into his big arms and held me close, looking into my eyes.

"I love it when your eyes light up with fire. Because you're so small and it's adorable."

He kissed my forehead.

"And I love it when you forgive me, so I can make you angry over again."

I couldn't help but grin as he nuzzled my neck.

"And then I love _how_ you forgive me," he added as I let him hold and nuzzle me.

Then I pushed him playfully away. "Yeah, yeah. Don't enjoy it too much."

He laughed. "Too late."

I smiled as he kissed my cheeks.

"I'm sorry I said you're fragile. You have to see it from my point of view. Compared to me, it does matter, because I'm in league with vampires, and when that happens, you get included in the equation. And any injury to you physically is an injury to me mentally."

As he spoke I understood what he meant. "I'm sorry I raised my voice at you."

"Don't be. I love any form your voice takes."

I laughed. "No really. It wasn't nice."

He chuckled and pushed my hair behind my ear. "I love you so much."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down with me. While we laid there on my bed, he cradled me, his big head lying on my tiny chest.

"If I could, I would anger you every day, just to make up with you like this."

"You don't need to get me angry. Just ask."

I ran my fingers through his hair and he looked up at me with a pleading face. "Could you kiss me please?"

I giggled and lowered my lips to his. We kissed passionately, our bodies entangled on my bed, before I broke apart and we rested side by side, our faces level and only inches apart.

"Tell me about vampires," I requested. "I want to know more about our enemy."

"They're filthy bloodsuckers, designed to kill humans for their survival. They use their looks, scent, body, anything to manipulate humans and lure you to them. It's disgusting."

"Are all of them bad?"

"Yes," he said quickly, but then retracted his thoughts. "Well, not all of them."

"Really? What do you mean?"

"There was this one group… It was a handful of years back, long before we were ever born, and they were passing through. Their eyes were different—they were bright gold instead of dark red. There were about nine of them: five females, four males. They claimed to have fed on animals rather than humans."

"Perhaps that was the reason for the difference in eye color?" I suggested.

"Exactly right. Well, that was what we thought, at least. And they realized that this was our territory, and they moved on. They were civil, left without a fight or a feeding."

My eyes widened. It was easy to see that, since the vampire I met seemed so civil before he started attacking me, polite even. But I guess that's just how they are.

"They didn't feed on any humans?"

"No. We scouted extra hard that night. Nor did we find any animals affected either. It seems almost as if they respected our wishes and moved on immediately."

"Wow. That's hard to imagine considering what I just experienced."

My words brought him back to something he was thinking before, and he looked at me with more concern.

"Did he hurt you bad? Can I see what he did?" he asked, his forehead wrinkling with anxiety.

"Uh, sure," I said. "I'll just change into some less concealing clothes."

He nodded and I slid off the bed and to my closet. "Close your eyes," I ordered, and he obeyed.

I found some shorts and a tank top so he could easily see the wounds I figured were on my back and knee. I stripped my pants and shirt, pulled up my shorts and got a glimpse of my knee and gasped.

My knee was completely black and blue with one massive bruise, intermingled with the blood from a gash across the middle. Luke didn't bother covering his eyes anymore at the sound of my gasp and was at my side in a second, not even bothering to let me get my tank top on. He kneeled down to examine my knee closely, strangled breaths escaping from his lips.

"I'm so sorry, Kate, I should have known," he whispered.

"Just let me get my tank top on," I said, quickly turning around to snatch it from my closet.

His responding gasp was horrified. He held my shoulder in place, not letting me finish getting dressed as he examined my back.

"_Oh my god_, Kate."

"What? Is it that bad?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.

He turned me around and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My eyes widened in horror. There was a round basketball-shaped bruise on my back, even gnarlier than the one on my knee. I could look closely and see the most darkened spot in the middle in the distinct shape of a hand.

For the first time, I saw Luke tremble from head to toe in supreme anger. His jaw was clenched shut and his eyes even started to water. I turned around and placed my hands on his outstretched arms in order to console him. Before I could get anything out, he growled,

"Nothing you can say will douse my rage, so don't even try."

"Luke," I pleaded, ignoring his comment. "Luke, look at me. Listen. The vampire is dead, there is nothing more you can do to make it better. Okay? Focus, Luke."

He didn't say anything. Nothing in his composure changed.

"He is dead," he growled, "but I still want to kill every goddamn bloodsucker on this planet."

I squeezed his arms. "But won't that mean you'll have to leave me?"

I hoped my logic would work on him. I needed him to calm down before he became lethal.

Luke froze for a moment, closed his eyes to steady himself, and opened them to look me straight in the eyes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that. That was uncalled for."

"I completely understand. Now can we do something about my wounds?" I asked, hoping to divert his attention to me rather than killing vampires.

"Sure, sure. I'll find the first aid," he mumbled and left my room.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

**Kate**

It was the second of two finals days, and I was sure to fail. After what had happened a few days ago, I couldn't come to finish studying for my finals. So I knew my grade would hurt due to my lack of studying and the absence of my attention. Classes were lengthened to two hours each so that we had enough time to complete our finals. I was on my last one of the day when Luke, tall and brawny, showed up outside my class window concealed inside the forest. He was walking along the tree line in the distance, watching and protecting.

Luke was not lying when he said he would be with me all the time. The only exception to that rule was when he had to be in school completing his own finals, which I knew he did not want to do as much as I did. School at La Push usually ended before ours, so he quickly ran here as a wolf, and surveyed around my school as a human.

But there was something off about him. He had spotted me quickly through the window and we watched each other. His face was set in a hard stare; he was bothered about something. Perhaps it was more bad news concerning the vampires. That would have been easy to get, but it seemed more than that. It seemed deeper.

I ordered myself to focus for my last test, but it was difficult with the thoughts of Luke swarming around me head. I was worried, undoubtedly. There was something off, and I was dying for him to tell me.

The period had ended quickly, and I had certainly failed that last test as well. That fact didn't bother me. The grade of our finals were only represented in a fraction of our final grade, and my final grades were fortunately good enough.

Summer had begun, although it hardly looked like it. The clouds of Forks looked the same as they always had—dark and blotchy—hardly weather fit for summer. But the idea of summer took on a new light for me. Summer meant endless time with Luke, more time to be with him than ever before, and to be sure that we wouldn't be parted. As I remembered that he was waiting for me, I knew our infinite time together would start now.

I flittered out of the classroom before anyone else and made a beeline towards Luke through the relieved students celebrating for the end of the school year. I found him pacing outside the front doors, getting nervous and questioning looks from students leaving the school. Once I reached him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me down the walking path to the forest.

"How was your last day of school?" I asked shakily, trying to keep up with his pace.

"Terrible," he said, looking ahead.

"Luke? What's going on? Talk to me," I ordered, my brows furrowing.

He lowered his voice so only I could hear. "I caught the scent of the two females who fought us at La Push. The ones that distracted us so that the male could get to you."

I didn't know what to say, so I waited for more.

"It was halfway between here and La Push and we hadn't caught it before, meaning it is only minutes old."

We made it to the covering of the trees and he stopped me there and took me in his arms, wrapping his entire self around me. I wrestled my arms free and held him to me as well.

"Why are you so bothered by this?"

He buried his face in my hair. "I've been thinking the most terrible things lately. The past few hours have been miserable."

"What have you been thinking?"

"That any moment I'm not around you, you could be dead. When I caught the scent back there, that was what I thought. I couldn't bear it, I had to see you." His voice cracked on his words.

I held him closer. "I'm here."

He took a deep breath to steady himself. "You are."

"And now it's summer," I reassured him. "We can always be together."

He ran his fingers through my hair, then down my neck. "And I can't contain my happiness."

"Nor can I." I giggled. "Let's go to my house to celebrate. Adam won't be home for hours and neither will my father."

He made a throaty sound. "That sounds perfect."

He took me to my house riding through the back forests of Forks. He trusted me more to hold on, and we traveled faster than a walking pace this time. My house came through the trees within seconds, and he was already taking me inside.

"So what shall we do on this fine last day of school?" he asked me, taking my hand and leading me to the couch.

Once we sat down, I leaned into him. "I have a few ideas," I hinted.

He made a little growl in his chest. "You tempt me to think things I shouldn't."

"I don't mind," I smiled temptingly, pulling his arms around me and leaning in for a kiss.

He leaned backward and pulled me on top of him, encasing me in his large embrace. I tightened my grip around his strong neck, then slid my hands into his hair and knotting my fingers into it. He felt no pain at my gestures, but took them as an invitation. My temperature had risen to an unbearable height once he let me go, his lips moving down my neck, creating a trail of kisses.

"Is your day getting any better?" I asked.

"It was better the moment I saw you," he responded between kisses.

He paused and looked up at me, brushing a strand of hair away from my face and kissing my lips one more time. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Will you be mine forever?" he asked, kissing my neck again.

My mind froze and I failed to answer. Was he hinting at something more serious than the playfulness I was implying? He noticed my hesitation and looked up at me. His eyes widened.

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant," he stumbled.

I found my breath again and looked down at him. "What did you mean?"

He shook his head. "Well, I was only—I know you're not ready for that… kind of talk," he stammered some more, his dark skin turning red. "It's too early for that."

I nodded, still unable to find words.

"I just meant…"

I put my finger on his lips, taking a deep breath.

"Yes I will be yours forever," I said. "But not in that way."

His face unmistakably fell. "What way do you mean?"

"Not in the… marriage sense," I clarified. "You're right. It is too early for that."

He nodded. "I'm sorry. I ruined the moment."

I shook my head. "Don't be. I should get used to it if I'm going to be yours forever." I smiled playfully at him and kissed him again.

He grinned and pulled me closer. "I'll keep that in mind."


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

**Kate**

I woke that morning in Luke's arms, my covers in a heap on the floor and my ceiling fan on full blast. Sharing a bed with the world's hottest boyfriend had its downfalls, but I was making it work. Luke always slept longer than I did, and thanks to my dad's lack of interest in checking in on me, Luke usually slept in until late morning.

Excited for the day, I nudged him awake. He stretched and his arms crushed me against him, making me let out a gasp. His eyes flew wide open, and his arms immediately loosened their grip.

"Sorry about that, Kate."

I kissed the tip of his nose and released myself from him, jumping out of bed.

"What are you in such a hurry for?" he asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He couldn't help but smile at me in admiration for my joy.

"Summer! Let's get to La Push for breakfast," I ushered.

"That sounds like a good idea." He sighed, and slowly lifted himself from my bed. "No offense, but you don't exactly have enough food to keep me satisfied."

"I wasn't planning on feeding a werewolf when I went shopping."

"You don't even have enough food for yourself," he said. "I need to fill you up."

"And your father is the perfect one to do it! Let's go!"

He lazily plucked his shirt from my floor and I hurriedly got dressed in the bathroom. Even though Luke had seen more than I'd bargained for when he examined my bruises the other day, I still wasn't ready for that much intimacy.

* * *

"Now, remember: get whatever food you can _before _the guys show up," Luke instructed me.

He led me up the steps to his little house near the shore of First Beach the morning after the last day of school. He claimed his father was celebrating with a large breakfast today and he invited me along, even though I wasn't the one graduating this week.

La Push's graduation was a few days after school ended, while their seniors ended on the same day our juniors, sophomores, and freshmen ended. La Push's school system had always been off compared to ours.

Luke opened the door for me and I smelt the aroma of all the breakfast dishes all at once. There were pancakes, sausages, ham, eggs, biscuits, waffles, and so much more.

"How could you get all this food?" I asked Todd.

He turned from the stove and smiled at me. "Gerard's mother runs the grocery store. She understands who I'm providing for," Todd laughed.

"Grab a plate," Luke gestured.

Todd took a skillet of eggs off the burner and came around to arrange them on a plate.

"It sure is nice seeing you around here again, Kate," Todd smiled. "Help yourself!"

"Thank you, Todd."

As I filled my plate with waffles, syrup, and some eggs, the door swung wide and the rest of the boys all came in at once.

"Wow," Peter breathed, "I could smell that a mile away."

"Good. I'm starved. Mom gets irritated when I eat all her health bars," Kevin sighed. "Hey, Kate!"

Before I could swallow my mouthful, Kevin came around and hugged me tightly.

"Hey, Kevin," I choked.

"I adore how small you are," he smiled. "I could fit you in my pocket."

"Thanks," I said flatly.

Over Kevin's shoulder I saw Luke snickering. My feet touched the ground again and it wasn't a second later until Peter came around and hugged me as well.

"Kate!" Peter shouted and set me down again.

Howard, healed completely since the last time I had seen him, came over as well and gave me an awkward hug. "Morning, Kate," he said. I decided I liked his hug the best since my feet stayed on the ground this time.

Finally Gerard came over, giving me a formal, one-arm hug.

"Nice to see you here," he said.

"You, too."

Finally, they adverted their attention to the food and I had a chance to take another bite of mine. The food was as delicious as last time, and it went just as quickly as well. Everyone stood around the small kitchen, shoulder to shoulder, Todd and I the smallest ones there compared to the towering boys, and ate whatever mixture of food was on their plates.

"Tell you mother thank you for the food," Todd said to Gerard, who raised his fork in acknowledgment since his mouth was so full. Everyone else grunted in agreement since their mouths were too full to speak the words.

"Does your mother know about you being a werewolf?" I asked Gerard curiously, thinking back to how Todd said his mother knew who he was providing for. Once I had said it, I wished I hadn't. I realized with a shock that I had never really addressed Gerard directly until now. He always seemed too serious and intimidating for conversation.

In response, he nodded and swallowed his food before speaking. "My father is one of the elders, so he has to know, naturally."

"Are you an elder?" I asked, turning to Todd.

"Yes, I am."

"But the rest of our parents aren't," Peter added, "so they can't know unless they somehow find out by themselves."

"Which won't happen," Gerard added.

"We've all sworn to keep it a secret with the best effort we've got," Kevin added as well.

"Sworn?" I asked.

"It's an alpha thing. Gerard decrees it so that we will do everything in our power not to let anyone know what we are. We have no other choice to obey."

"And I can know as well?" I asked. "Since I've been imprinted upon?"

"That's right," Luke said. "I've imprinted on you, which gives you a sort of standing in the situation. I am allowed to tell you."

"Which he has," Kevin muttered resentfully.

"When you finally imprint, you can tell whomever that girl is," Luke told him.

"If you're so sure it will be a girl…" Howard muttered.

The boys started a round of laughs and Kevin glared at each one of them. Todd managed to hush them all and began to speak.

"Now, let's remember what we are here for. This is a celebration of the end of the school year, and for some, the end of their high school career—"

Kevin and Luke, with Gerard less enthusiastically, all let out whoops and hollers as they high-fived each other.

"Graduation is the day after tomorrow," Todd continued, then added jokingly, "so we have to keep those three alive until then."

"With these three, that would be a challenge," Peter joked, and Kevin gave him a swift punch on the shoulder.

Luke beside me gave me a nudge. "Will you come to my graduation?"

"Of course. What time?" I replied.

"It's at seven. But I'm going to have to leave you alone for a while before that. My dad wants to spend some time with me."

"That's fine," I said, then I hesitated.

"What's wrong?" he asked, stroking my cheek.

"I should spend some time with my dad, too. I've kind of been ignoring him," I said quietly. I had only realized that until now, and I wasn't feeling to good about it.

"I'm sorry. That's probably my fault," Luke apologized.

"No, no. It's my fault more than anything. He's my dad."

I lowered my hand and wrapped it in his and he smiled at me, but it hadn't touched his eyes like it usually had. His hand burned mine.

As we stood there finishing our food, I thought of another person I had ignored completely—Adam. I had been so caught up in Luke since I'd met him that I'd barely had time to notice Adam anymore. I didn't even know if he slept at home last night. I suddenly felt a gush of remorse for ignoring my family. I really should spend as much time as I can tomorrow.


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

**Kate**

"You have to promise me that you won't leave your house, and you won't go outside. And you have to call me when you're alone, got it?"

Luke was looking intensely into my eyes and making sure I agreed to his terms once he left me alone.

I nodded, thinking how this whole vampire thing was getting annoying. I'd rather wander around Forks and have freedom, but these stupid vampires were ruining my fun.

"I promise."

"Thank you." He anxiously kissed my forehead and let go of my hands, stepping off the porch and not turning away from me. "Remember to call the moment you are alone. No, wait, _before_ that. I'm not leaving any space for a leech to get in. Someone will be here once you call."

"Don't worry about me. I'll manage like I always do," I assured him.

"I don't want to take the chance," he muttered seriously.

"Have a nice day with your father!" I called out to him.

"You as well, Kate."

I turned inside once I couldn't see him anymore and waited for my father to come downstairs. While I waited, I decided to make some breakfast. Maybe Adam will come down too if he smells the food. Bacon and eggs were sizzling deliciously on the stove when Dad finally came down.

"Smells good, Katie."

"Thanks, Dad. I thought we could eat and talk. I haven't seen you in a while."

"You know, been busy with work. How are the guys down at La Push?" he asked.

I raised my eyebrows at him. I hadn't gotten the impression that he cared, or that he even liked Luke.

"Oh, they're all right." I said.

"And Todd?" he asked. "Still fishing?"

"Yep, he's great."

I prepared the plates and put on the food while Dad sat down at the table. I sat across from him as he unfolded a napkin and started in.

"Are you glad school's out?" he asked with a mouthful of eggs.

"Yes. It's nice to have summer again," I replied. "When is Adam's graduation ceremony?"

Dad looked up at me and narrowed his eyes. "It was a week ago."

My eyes widened, my mind racing back over the past week. Did I really miss it? "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, Kate, you've been out of it, I guess."

"Just busy," I mumbled. "Where is he?"

He frowned at his food. "He left yesterday for a week long camping trip with a group of friends," he said.

My mouth dropped. "Wow. I really have been out of it."

Dad nodded and took another spoonful.

"You still seeing that Luke?" he asked.

I nodded. "I don't see what you have against him."

He remained quiet for a while, chewing and thinking. "I guess he's all right. Seems to look after you pretty good."

I nodded. "More than you know."

"Do you love him?" he asked suddenly.

I laughed. "Yes," I said, hoping my cheeks weren't turning red.

He grunted and chewed some more.

"Why?"

"Just wondering when I should start saving up money for a wedding."

"Dad! That won't come for a while. Don't hold your breath."

"I know, I know. I've just seen the way you look at him."

"Is it really that bad?"

He shrugged. "What do I know about love?"

I looked down at my plate and shrugged as well. I was glad that Dad was taking a notice to my life—my life being Luke. He didn't seem to be hating it, either, which was a bonus.

"He seems to be really important to you, though," Dad added after a moment.

"He truly is. More than you can imagine."

He nodded and took another mouthful.

"I'm actually going to his graduation tonight. Do you mind if I go?" I asked, thinking it was probably better to ask rather than assume that it was all right to leave.

"That's fine. I don't mind at all."

I began to feel better now that I sat down and talked with my father. Even though things lately have separated us, it was important to me to find the time to talk to him. A feeling inside my chest told me the separation would continue, and most likely that would be because of Luke. I made a promise to myself to not let that happen.

"It's good to know what's going on with you again," Dad said.

"Yeah," I said, smiling across the table at him. "You, too."

"I'm glad we had this talk. I just wish I could talk to Adam."

"Oh, don't fret. He'll be back on Saturday."

I nodded. "I'll be looking forward to it."

I took my plate into the kitchen and he brought his in after me, helping me load the dishwasher.

"Hey, do you want to go out and do something? Just us two?" I asked, scrubbing a dish before putting it on the rack.

Dad nodded. "That would be nice."

* * *

It was nearing six when we got home from getting ice cream. There was a message on the answering machine and it was Luke checking in on me.

"Hey, just checking in. Call me back soon, okay?"

I dialed his number after I listened to his message, wondering why he sounded so frantic.

"Kate?"

"Hey, Luke."

There was a sigh on the other end. "Good, you're alright."

"Were you worrying about me?" My brows furrowed. "I went out with my father." I imagined him coming to my house himself and knocking on the door and running around my house in wolf form.

"No, you didn't worry. I was only thinking about you. Did you have fun?"

"I did. I'm glad I had a day to spend with him."

"That's great. Are you ready to come over? My dad will pick you up in the truck since I have to be at the school… right now."

"Oh! Hurry up, I don't want you late to your own graduation."

"Alright. See you soon. I love you."

"I love you, too."

I went upstairs and tried to find the nicest sun dress I had and managed to dredge a white one up from the depths of my closet. I gave myself a onceover in my mirror and surprisingly decided that I liked the color on my sun-tanned skin from being outside with Luke all the time. I hurried to the bathroom to fix my hair and makeup. I decided to put my hair up in a simple ponytail and accent my eyes with a little eyeliner. Nothing too drastic since it was only graduation.

There was a knock on the door and, unfortunately, Dad beat me to it.

"Todd?" he asked, surprised to see him at our house.

"I'm here to pick up dear Kate, here," he said. "She's coming with me to Luke's graduation."

I came down the stairs and found them both at the doorway. I didn't miss Dad's eyes widen as he saw me.

"Well, hello, Kate. You look nice. Are you ready to leave?" he asked.

"Thank you for picking me up. You didn't have to come all the way out here for me," I said.

"It was no problem."

"I suppose I'll see you later, Kate?" Dad asked.

"Um, very late, I think. They want to have a bonfire down at the beach."

He nodded and turned to Todd. "Take care of her."

"Always will," he replied, smiling at me.

I slipped on some sandals and turned to give Dad a hug.

"See you later," I said.

"I might be asleep, so don't bother to wake me when you get home. I have work tomorrow."

"Alright," I said, giving him one last kiss on the cheek and following Todd out to the car.

Todd and I arrived at the high school just before seven. We followed the signs through the school that held close resemblance to my own and into the small gym. Since we arrived a little earlier than seven, Todd and I had time to find a good seat before the ceremony started. While we were searching, we found Howard and Peter in the audience surrounded by a large group of people. We came closer and Todd introduced me to each of the boys' parents.

Peter and Howard's parents weren't there, and neither was Lilly, Howard's girlfriend. Gerard's Parents were tall and had the blackest hair I've ever seen. They shared the same stoic facial expression as their son's, and gave me a cordial greeting. I greeted them back and turned to Kevin's parents, and noticed how much Kevin was of a mirror image to his father, who cracked jokes about anything he could.

"Well, aren't you the prettiest little lady I've ever seen," he said, before adding quickly, "Besides my wife, of course."

His wife only smiled a little, being so used to it, probably, and gave me a small hug. "It's nice to meet you," she told me in a quiet voice, the complete opposite from her son's. I wondered what they thought of their son wandering off all the time to run around with the rest of the wolves, since they didn't know the truth. I wondered if they were worried, and maybe my father might be like that too. Kevin had a little sister, maybe ten years old, and like her mother, kept to herself and didn't even look at me while I was talking to her parents.

"Hey, Kate. Looking very nice today," Peter said, clearing his throat pointedly.

"What?" I asked, suddenly becoming self-conscious.

He shook his head. "Oh, nothing. It's just that I'd like to see Luke's face when he sees you."

"Have you guys never seen a girl in a dress?"

He shrugged and sat me down in between him and Howard, with Todd on the other side of Howard and the parents surrounding us. It wasn't long until the principal of the school came up onto the stage and greeted everyone to the graduation ceremony.

"Let's bring out the graduates!" he shouted brightly.

The double doors behind the audience opened up and two lines of graduates filed out. The lines were small, only about twenty people each. It was easy to spot Kevin in the front, Luke in the middle, and Gerard in the back, since all of them were towering over all the other students. As my eyes wandered down the line, I found their gowns to be comical, as they ended halfway down their calves, their bare legs visible and with their shoes underneath. I had to contain my laughter, but the boys beside me weren't too tactful, and let out whooping roars of laughter at the sight of them, making everyone stare at _us_.

I watched Luke, his eyes set dead ahead, his face impassive. My brow furrowed and I watched him until he stopped and faced toward the crowd. The principal started calling out names and Kevin was already up there, receiving his diploma. I clapped, but remained watching Luke. Finally, he caught sight of me and his expression didn't change.

I mouthed, _What's wrong?_

But he only shook his head. My eyes moved farther down the line to Gerard, and my heart skipped a beat when I noticed he was staring straight at me. I stared back, but it took me a moment to realize that he was staring at Howard beside me. Howard nodded his head in some unspoken agreement and stood up. I watched with concerned eyes as he made his way down the aisle and out the back door. I turned back to Luke and his eyes were still on mine, watching me carefully and closely.

Todd beside me scooted into Howard's chair and grabbed my hand from my knee. "What are you so worried about?"

I looked over at Peter on the other side of me and found an empty seat. He had moved away so quietly I hadn't even noticed it.

"What's going on?" I asked, turning back to Todd.

"Nothing, hon. They're just checking out the place," he said.

My eyes widened in desolation. _For vampires?_ I mouthed.

Todd nodded. "They must have smelt something. They're only checking it out. Nothing bad has happened."

"How do you know?"

He pursed his lips and turned to face the stage. Luke was coming up and accepting his diploma, and all I could manage was a little clap.

The lines quickly shortened until there were no more graduates. The principal of the school took his place on the stage again, and the boys had still not returned.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I'd like to present to you, the graduating class!" the principal shouted jovially. All of the graduates took their cap and tossed it into the air in celebration. All Kevin, Luke, and Gerard did was merely take off their caps and stare around the room anxiously.


	28. Chapter 27 approx 4 chaps left!

Chapter 27

**Kate**

Luke was standing with the rest of the pack when Todd and I finally found him. He looked over as we walked from the gym to the outside and smiled, which confused me for a second, but then I realized he was putting on a happy face for the oblivious parents around him.

Peter and Howard hadn't come back since the ceremony ended, so I assumed there was something big going on, yet as I looked around at the families and graduates, nothing seemed to be wrong. As I passed a large group of people, I saw a rather young boy standing apart from the rest of the group, his nose wrinkling in disgust and looking around, confused. I glanced at him for a moment, and then returned my gaze to Luke. He tore himself from the group and I walked right up to him and wove my arms around his waist.

"You look stunningly beautiful. You didn't have to dress up for me," Luke whispered into my ear as we stood apart from the group.

"Thank you. You will tell me what's going on later, wont you?" I whispered back.

"Of course." He pulled back and smiled at me, but there was something in his eyes.

We turned back to the group and waited while everyone got their congratulations out. There weren't many people to receive congratulations from, so we were able to leave quickly. The group's overall mood had changed since the ceremony. They seemed more enthusiastic, so I assumed things were getting better.

"The boys want to have a bonfire down at the beach," Luke said.

"Will you be able to tell me there?" I asked.

Luke looked reluctant as he thought about it. "Yes."

"Can you believe it, man?" Kevin shouted, coming over to us and putting his arms around us both. "Were out on our own! No more school no more nothing!"

We all agreed to meet back at the beach in one hour, which gave us time to gather food and drinks for the bonfire. Luke took me to his house to change and grab a few things from the fridge and a cooler for everything else that the boys brought.

"Will Lilly be there?" I asked Luke as I helped him pick stuff out from the fridge.

He nodded. "I don't understand why you're so keen on meeting her. She's not… very warm to people."

"I'm just curious. Especially to see how her and Howard act around each other."

The tide was low when we arrived at First Beach, a huge difference to when I was here the last time, when Luke ran off into the woods the first time I heard the howling. Howard and Lilly were coming from the small parking lot to the left, and the rest of the boys were coming in from the trees father along, a tremendous amount of snacks and soda piled in their arms.

"Got some grub!" Peter shouted down to us.

Luke quickly pulled a few heavy-looking logs into a triangle formation while I gathered some twigs around the edge of the forest for the fire. The rest of them joined us quickly and dumped all the food they had into Luke's coolers.

"Let's start this sucker up," Kevin said, rubbing his hands together. He pulled a matchbox out of his back pocket and started striking away at the box.

Lilly and Howard were approaching the log formation we had created, and Lilly gave me one quick glance before returning her gaze to Howard. Her hair was short, cropped up to her chin. Her lips were set in an unhappy line, while she stared at the rocky ground and then to Howard again, who in turn looked unhappy himself.

"I… can't… get it," Kevin grumbled, his brows coming together in frustration as he used the lighter to singe the bottom of the logs without them catching fire.

"You have to light a piece of paper first to get it going," Gerard pointed out.

"Oh." He turned around and I handed him a piece of wadded paper I found by the food.

Kevin eventually got the fire lit and everyone settled around it in a circle. The logs weren't much comfort, but sitting next to Luke was. His warmth was a better source than the fire as I sat against his cushion of a body.

Kevin had already gotten into the food and was passing around sodas for everyone and opening packages.

The day was waning and the beach gradually got colder and colder. All the boys were laughing and roughing around, though I could tell it was hard to be themselves while Lilly was around, since she was one of the people who didn't know. I wondered how much that drove a stake into her and Howard's relationship.

By Lilly's quiet demeanor as she sat next to Howard, I figured Luke must have been right about Lilly being generally unfriendly. She hadn't spoken once to the group, with only a few inaudible whispers to Howard beside her. She had only glanced at me a few times, but nothing to establish a friendly greeting with each other.

From across the fire I saw Lilly whisper something more into Howard's ear. He was looking down at the ground, so I couldn't see his expression, but his demeanor was unhappy as they both stood up and retreated to the shoreline together.

Luke leaned in to me and whispered to me, "They've been fighting all day. I think we can anticipate what's going to happen."

"What to you mean?" I asked.

The boys all quieted down, inclining their heads toward the couple walking by the water as if to listen to what they were saying from across the beach. I tried to hear as well, but it was hard over the distance and the waves of water coming in and out.

They were down there for a while, and I gave up on listening and played with the rim of my soda. Soon enough, Howard returned without Lilly, and I looked up in time to see her walking towards the truck.

"I have to take her home. I'll be back guys," Howard said, gesturing towards the truck with Lilly now in it. His face was blank, but something certainly happened between them.

He ambled away and I turned to Luke. "What happened?"

"They broke up," Peter answered.

"And about time. Lilly wasn't good for Howard. She's such a drain," Kevin said.

"We were expecting it. It was only a matter of time," Luke said to me, kissing the top of my head.

"Well now that she's gone, let's let loose!" Kevin shouted.

"Be nice, Kevin," Gerard warned.

The boys were visibly more relaxed. It must have been difficult to be yourself when certain people didn't and couldn't know your true self.

I was still waiting for an explanation from Luke about earlier today. It seemed as if he wished I would forget about it, but that wasn't the case. What happened was on the forefront of my thinking. I needed to know what happened, because I was thinking the worst.

"Can we go talk?" I asked Luke. "By the water?"

He nodded, knowing what I was expecting, and stood up with me.

"Ohhh, you're not breaking up with him, too, are you?" Kevin asked.

"Of course not," I told him with a smile.

"Good. Cause we like actually like you," he said.

I smiled at him and Luke pulled me away towards the shore. He grabbed my hand as we walked, and when I thought we were a good distance away from the others, I started talking.

"You know what I want to talk to you about, so go ahead."

He chuckled and looked down at me. "I guess I can't avoid it."

I shook my head. "No, you can't."

"All right then. Well back at the school, Gerard, Kevin, and I caught the scent of another one."

"Another vampire?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"Well, nothing really. We had Howard and Peter follow it, but it only lead through the town. We think it means something. Maybe a warning," he said.

I was quiet while he speculated, taking in all the information, and eased at the revelation that no one had been hurt in the process.

"But we don't know how they knew about the graduation, because they had to have known if they passed right by the school and at the right moment when all of us weren't on guard. We think they are spying on us."

"What do you think the warning is for?" I asked.

He looked down at me, his eyes wary. "We think something big is coming. We think they're after you, and they mean business."

"Oh, they're after me still?" I said, looking toward the ocean. The sun had completely set now, and the only light we had was from the moon above and the bonfire in the distance.

"Kate. I don't think you understand was an angry vampire means."

"What does it mean, then?"

"If a vampire has revenge on the brain, then nothing can stop them from what they want," he explained.

"I know that, but I have faith in you. You can protect me, Luke."

"I know you do, and I will try my _hardest_ to keep you safe. But don't be so sure. We're not perfect."

I nodded. "But I trust you still."

He smiled proudly leaned down to kiss me gently on my head. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Luke."

I could see he had more confidence as he strode with me. "This just means that we have to keep on the lookout double time. I think the boys will be pretty busy over the summer."

"Will the vampires eventually stop?" I asked.

"No. We'll have to kill them. We can handle it, though."

"This is going to be a fun summer. I can already see it," I sighed, smiling up at him.


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

**Kate**

As I trudged up the stairs, I found Dad poking his head around the corner from his bedroom, rubbing his hands over his eyes.

"I'm home," I said quietly.

He nodded and yawned. "Did you have a good time?" he asked heavily, his eyes drooping with fatigue.

"The best time. We had a bonfire afterwards. It was great."

Dad nodded. "Get to bed, hon."

"Goodnight, Dad."

He retreated back to his bedroom and I moved straight to my own, only to find Luke already standing by the window, a bag of my clothes already packed and slung on his shoulder.

"He'll never check in. He has to go to work early tomorrow, so he won't even bother me," I assured Luke.

"Great. Ready to go?"

He grabbed my shoulders and swept his arms behind my knees, swinging me up into his arms.

"Ready," I told him.

Luke and I had agreed that La Push would be the safest place to stay right now, so we made an agreement to stay at his place tonight. We did it all for my safety, of course. He leapt silently out the window and landed with a soft thud onto the rocky ground outside my house. Once inside the cover of the forest, I allowed for him to phase, then hoisted myself on his back and we were running to La Push at nearly midnight. By now, he was comfortable with running at a soft pace with me on his back. It wasn't as difficult for me anymore to stay on, and I thought it was exhilarating to feel the air rushing past my cheeks.

The night was pitch-black as the moon hid behind the clouds. Luke was able to trot right up to the back porch of the house without being seen. I let myself inside the empty house while Luke phased back and got his clothes on again.

"Let me help you with the clean up," I offered, once I saw him come in.

After the bonfire, the boys had dumped all the coolers and trash on the front porch and split, graciously leaving the mess for Luke to clean up.

"You don't have to," he said as I made my way to the front door. "Leave it. I'll deal with it tomorrow."

I ignored him and pulled a cooler in anyway, Luke sighing as he had no other choice but to help me and grabbed the other one, picking it up without having to drag it as I did.

"Want a soda? There's a lot left over in here," Luke offered as we began to pack away the extras.

"I would have expected you guys to drink it all," I said, taking a soda from him.

The tab on the soda was fighting me as I tried to pry it open with my finger. My brow furrowed and my lips pursed in concentration as I tried to slip my finger under the tab and snap it open.

"Can I help you with that?" Luke asked, watching what must be a comical sight as I wrestled with the can. I could tell he was suppressing laughter without looking at him.

"No. I got this," I grumbled.

Finally, the tab split open, sending sprays of water towards Luke's bare chest and the front of my shirt. After squealing and attempting to shelter myself, Luke clasped his hand over the top of the can, stopping the flow of spraying, sticky soda.

Despite the mess I had made, and after a moment of just standing still and assessing the damage, Luke and I found ourselves laughing at the scene that had just passed. He pulled me in for a sticky and wet hug, revengefully rubbing himself all over me since he got the majority of the soda on himself, and making me squeal and uselessly push him away until he finally let go.

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"Anytime," he offered, grinning.

I looked down at my ruined t-shirt and ruled out trying to wipe anything off, since the soda drenched everything, including my hair.

Luke picked up a strand of my sodden hair. "This is a nice look for you."

"You like it?" I asked, striking a pose for him.

He chuckled. "Yeah."

"Well, too bad. 'Cause I need a shower now."

He made a throaty sound. "Can I join you?"

I laughed and pushed him aside. "Just show me where the shower is," I said.

He led me down the hallway to a small bathroom next to his bedroom. Once I had the water running over me, I instantly felt cleaner. I got out, dressed in my pajama shorts and tank top, and found Luke in the kitchen cleaning the mess up. He had cleaned himself up as well and had put on some new cutoff sweats to replace the sodden ones.

"We sort of went backwards in progress," I said, grabbing a washrag and beginning to help him. He had the floors while I covered the counters and put away more of the sodas.

He stood up and tossed the wet towel into the sink from across the room and came up to me. Without saying a word and before I could anticipate it, he lifted me with as much ease as lifting a bag of cotton and lowered me onto the counter behind me. My legs wrapped around his waist automatically and his hands fell to either side of me. His lips parted and gave me a taunting smile. I bit my lip in response and tightened my grip around his waist, pulling him closer. Lowering his head and pulling aside my hair, he revealed my neck where he kissed, making his way up to my lips. My pulse started to race as he his hands rested on my bare knees, then slowly made their way up my legs to my hips.

He pulled me up and off the counter, holding me, our lips never parting. He was moving us, not needing to open his eyes to do so, and I suddenly felt a falling sensation until we landed together with a soft thud on the couch.

Our breathing became rapid, our lips moving together, with my hands tangled and knotted in his hair, and his hands exploring the curves of my body on top of his. His lips moved from my mouth to my neck and I was able to ask him a question.

"Is your father coming home anytime soon?"

He shook his head, his lips stopped for enough time to say, "Weekend hunting trip."

His lips came back up to mine. I found his hands and guided them up to my shirt, letting them slide underneath it. His hands suddenly froze, and his lips broke from mine again.

"Not tonight," he said.

My eyes snapped open. "Why not?" I asked, becoming confused.

"It's not right. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you," he said softly, looking down from my stare.

I laughed, and he returned his guilty expression to me. "Luke, what are you talking about?"

"Isn't it moving too fast for you?" he asked, his brows furrowing.

I shook my head slowly. "Not really."

He shrugged, conflicted. "I just think it's not right. Not tonight."

"Do you think we're moving too fast?" I asked.

His hands were still on the bare skin of my hips, the hem of my tank top resting on top of them. He shook his head, but his eyes gave him away. "No—it's just—I—we have all the time in the world. Be patient, okay?"

I narrowed my eyes tauntingly at him. "You know you want to. I see what's in your eyes."

His hands gave him away once they momentarily squeezed my hips, but he remained the same. "Let's take it slowly. I'll feel better that way. Okay?"

I pouted my lips unhappily. "Fine."

He pulled his hands back and placed them on either side of my face. "I still love you. Every part of you. And we still have forever together."

I nodded, closing my eyes as he ran his fingers through my hair and stroked the smooth skin on my cheeks.

"Don't be discouraged just yet, my love," he said softly.

"Don't worry. I'm not," I said, smiling tauntingly.

He laughed. "Let's finish with the cleaning, shall we?"


	30. Chapter 29 Merry Belated Christmas!

Chapter 29

**Kate**

The next morning, Luke and I ventured out on a walk through the back roads of La Push. Not much time had passed until the guys interrupted, but I had to admit that was something I expected. Howard was with them, and as I observed him, he didn't look upset much over what had happened last night with him and Lilly. It was odd to see him like this—he seemed less… reserved.

"Ohh, Kate got to spend the night with Luke," Kevin taunted, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Shut up, Kevin," I snapped, scowling at him.

The others gaped at me. "We don't think we've ever heard anyone say that to Kevin besides us," Peter said. "Well done, Kate."

I chuckled as they all clapped me on the back appreciatively.

"It's about time someone else told Kevin to shove off. I kind of like the change," Gerard said.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to doing it, though," Kevin warned me.

"I think it's better if he hears it from someone besides—" Peter began, then all of a sudden the five of them stiffened and stood rooted in place, looking in the same general direction into the dense trees. I didn't have the chance to take a step ahead of them before I realized they had all stopped, for Luke had snatched me by the arm and hid me behind him.

"What? What is it?" I asked, peering around his shoulder to look in the direction they all were looking.

"Get her to my place, Luke," Gerard growled. "Peter, come with me."

Nobody missed a beat; Luke pulled me back and we walked briskly with Howard and Kevin close behind us towards Gerard's house at the same time Gerard and Peter started to run towards the woods where they were all looking not a second before.

"Can somebody tell me what's going on?" I asked impatiently.

"Vampires. One strong and new scent. It's only a minute old. Something's going on," Luke answered.

"Is it bad?" I asked.

"We'll treat it as bad until we find out why the new bloodsucker is here," he growled.

We arrived shortly at a good-sized house tucked inside the forest, with the ocean in view through sparse cracks in the trees. The house had two levels with large windows on the front—a fancy home compared to Luke's and mine.

"Great," Luke mumbled to himself before we entered the house. "Dad's gone for the weekend and Gerard's parents are nowhere to be found."

"Don't worry, Luke!" Kevin shouted. "The only worry on my mind is that I'm not going to get in on any vampire action!"

"Don't talk like that, Kevin," Howard warned him. "Keep focused. Anything can happen based on what happened at graduation."

"Do you think this new one could slip through Gerard and Peter and get to us?" I asked, uncertain of how I should feel. "Is it after me still?"

"We can't be sure. This is a new scent—it could only be passing by. Except why so close to us? Didn't the bloodsucker smell us?" Howard speculated.

"Unless it knew something, thus knowing what to expect," Luke added.

"The scent seemed like it angled off into the woods," Kevin added. "It might be running away." He wrung his hands together anxiously. "I do love a good chase."

"Focus," Howard warned again. "Kate is what we need to think about now."

Kevin reluctantly nodded his head. "Sure. But I don't see no danger for her. Those females could have gotten to her any time now. What does this new scent have to do with anything?"

The others ignored Kevin's speculations as he and Howard led me inside Gerard's empty house, with Luke close behind me, his hand on the small of my back. We entered into an open living room, where the other two plopped onto the couch and settled in for what seemed would be a long day.

"I'm going to phase to see what's going on," Luke said, looking towards me. He seemed to be struggling internally with leaving me out of his sight, although he knew the other two would be with me. Despite everything, his need to know what they were facing took over, and he left out the back door to make some sense of what was going on.

**Luke**

I phased quickly, my heart torn about leaving Kate alone for only a second when danger could be so close, but I knew nothing would get to her with Howard and Kevin nearby, with me in wolf form just outside. And it was crucial to know what was going on, for Kate's sake.

_We see it in our sights—a male. Its difficult catching up to him, despite the trail being so fresh. He's a speedy bastard,_ Gerard informed me. _We don't have any scent of those two females anywhere. This could be over in a few minutes. Check back regularly if we don't arrive there soon, just in case, okay?_

_ Sure thing, _I told him.

_And don't worry so much about Kate, _he added. _She's safe under all of our protection. She's lucky to have you and a pack of wolves ready to defend her at any moment._

I grunted in assent and phased out, returning quickly to the others. I couldn't help but notice Kate's unconscious gesture of sitting straighter, her face lighting up the slightest at my return. I sat myself next to her and held her in my arms, kissing her temple. I took an inconspicuous sniff at her hair with my nose buried in it during the kiss, refreshing my mind with her sweet scent, and memorizing it.

"What's the news?" Kevin asked. It was obvious he wanted to get in the action, and a little irked that Gerard hadn't pulled him to investigate the scents with him, but it was understandable that Gerard didn't pick him. Kevin was irrational.

"Male. There's no scent of the other two females around," I informed all of them. "We just have to check in every few minutes or so until they come back."

Kevin visibly relaxed as he kicked his feet up and rested them on the coffee table, flipping on the television. "Great, now we can all chill."

Howard rolled his eyes. "_Focus_, Kevin. It's not over until it's_ over_."

I glanced down at Kate, who seemed too calm in this situation. She stared at the TV screen, not seeming to be paying attention to what was playing on it.

"What's on your mind?" I asked her, brushing my finger along her cheek.

Her eyes met mine. "Will this be over soon?" she asked. "I don't want the others out there long."

I nodded, hoping some hint of worry would come out in her expression. I was glad that she was content, but it unsettled me to know that her life didn't come first on her list of worries. It was number one on mine, above anything else in my life.

A small smile formed on her lips and she returned her gaze to the television, her eyes still not seeming to catch what was happening on the screen, as I stroked my fingers up and down the smooth creamy skin of her forearm.


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

**Kate**

The absence of the boys worried me. I hadn't really comprehended the force of vampires in my head, so it was hard to imagine them getting hurt, since I couldn't even leave a scratch on Luke. Although, the healing sore on my back was some evidence to their strength as it faintly throbbed once I remembered it was still there.

Kevin still had the TV blaring, although he was paying as much attention to it as I had been. It seemed to be turned on only for the sake of keeping me calm, although there was no need.

Luke got up to phase again, leaving me alone for another moment, sitting on the unnaturally colld couch after his body heat had left.

**Luke**

_Sorry its taking so long,_ Peter told me the moment I phased. _This bloodsucker's so damn evasive, but he's not leaving the La Push area. He's staying on the edge of our forests. We can't even so much as get a swipe at him. Damnit!_

Through their eyes, I saw the bloodsucker, dressed in dirty and ripped clothes, climbing up trees, and darting in and out of Gerard's and Peter's grasp. He had obviously not changed his clothes in a while, and his blood red eyes stood out like a sore thumb against his pasty skin, indicating that he had fed recently.

_Keep vigil, _Gerard warned. _I'm beginning to think he's trying to keep us away from you for some reason._

_And still no scent of the two females? _I asked, becoming confused.

_Nope._

**Kate**

Luke returned quickly, without a happy look on his face.

"What's up?" I asked him, sitting up straighter. The boys' heads snapped towards him, Kevin muting the television.

"They still haven't got him," Luke said. "This bloodsucker is keeping out of their reach, and keeping him on the edge of the La Push forests."

"What do you think it means?" Howard asked, leaning forward.

"Do we have another angry vampire seeking revenge?" Kevin speculated. "Did any of us kill any vampires out there that could have had mates?"

"If it _is _the females returning, would they wait this long to come back?" Luke added.

No one had an answer for what was happening, and each of them only provided speculations to what _could_ be happening. None of them proposed a valid solution, perhaps only because they didn't have one.

The other two began to check in with Gerard and Peter every few minutes. There was no news to report other than they had reached a stalemate—the wolves stood face to face with the vampire, no one making a move, since the latter would easily dart off, and the wolves wanted to catch this one.

Kevin had left the television muted, then raided Gerard's refrigerator and brought everyone food and drinks so we could spend the day waiting. It was getting later and later in the day, until I decided to call Dad and let him know that I was spending the day at La Push. I reached our answering machine and left a message with the details, being sure to mention Gerard's number.

Day turned to night, and there was still nothing new. Gerard ordered Howard and Kevin to stay where they were at the house, in case their momentary absence would cause something to happen, in case the two female vampires were nearby, who were apparently _still_ seeking revenge.

Howard was helping me clean some dishes we used when he asked me a question.

"What is it like to have someone imprinted on you?"

The question surprised me, since I never thought Howard took an interest in me personally, because I was a real life example of how Howard was worried that he hadn't imprinted on his now ex-girlfriend.

"Um…" I started. "Well, it's kind of hard to resist his love, for starters, so I don't think I could not love him at all."

"Was there a hesitation when you found out he had imprinted on you?" he asked, scrubbing the plate in his hand.

I pursed my lips, trying to think. "Not really. I mean, I really didn't completely understand what imprinting was until I got it first hand from Luke, but I don't think there was any hesitation," I answered.

He nodded thoughtfully.

"Is… is the reason you and Lilly broke up the worry that you hadn't imprinted on her?" I asked, hoping I wasn't requesting something too personal from him.

He nodded. "That, and the knowledge barrier. She couldn't understand why I was so stressed all the time, and why I couldn't be around her all the time. She thought that I was cheating on her, and when you came into the circle, she thought it was you. So don't worry about her hating you, cause it's sort of my fault."

"I don't worry. I don't think I'll be seeing her anymore anyways," I assured him.

"Yeah, but it was hard not being able to tell her, because being a wolf is my life, and not telling your girlfriend about your life could cause a gap between the both of you."

"And it did."

"It did. So she got tired of me running around all the time and not being able to tell her anything about it and why I couldn't see her when I got injured fighting that vampire not too long ago. She cracked, and we split. I'm just glad I don't have to worry about it anymore. I won't be hurting anyone now if I should ever imprint in the future," he went on.

"Is it nice to talk to someone about it?" I asked.

"Yeah. The guys don't really talk about these things too much since we can hear each other's thoughts while phased. I guess you're my relief," he said.

I laughed. "Although I sort of caused your pain by even being here," I added.

"That's true. But don't think you're unwanted. Do you see how ready we were to protect you?" he asked me, swinging his towel around. "And don't you know that Luke would lie down in fire for you? Literally?"

I giggled and looked down at the cup I was rinsing.

"It's true, that crazy bastard," he muttered.

"Yeah, I know that."

"You're just lucky. Don't ever let him go, 'cause he is everything to you that I wasn't to Lilly."

I looked up at him. "Does that hurt you?"

"Absolutely. But Lilly is strong. She can move on. She knows what she wants and she can survive. She just couldn't wait on me while I waited for someone to come along for me to imprint on. It couldn't work."

I nodded. "I understand."

"I'm glad you do, Kate," he said, then leaned in closer and whispered, "cause the guys would never talk about this with me. Don't tell them I did, either."

I laughed quietly, "Sure thing, Howard."

That night, I slept in the living room with the boys taking turns staying awake. I offered that I could take a turn staying up late to watch as well, but they just laughed at me. Howard had found me some blankets from another room in the house and Luke set up a bed for me on one of the large couches. Luke's watch was first, and the others settled in for a good night's sleep. While the boys fell asleep almost instantly, I stayed up with Luke, keeping him company. I lied in my makeshift bed on the couch, with Luke sitting at the base of the couch in front of me, and I reached out a hand and ran my fingers through his coarse hair, recognizing how similar it felt to his wolf fur.

**Luke**

Kate was lying on the couch, bundled up in the blanket with only her head and her arm poking out. Her head rested on the pillow, and her arm extended to me, her fingers wrapped in my hair as she stroked around and around. I sat in silence, enjoying her fingers running through my hair.

"I'm sorry I have to keep you hostage here. It's the only way to be sure that you're safe and secure," I assured her.

She grunted softly at my words, not seeming to mind what I was doing to her.

She rubbed some more, her fingers never stopping, as her eyes stared at her work. I tried to study her expression, but she truly seemed to be unbothered by the entire situation as her face remained impassive.

"Tell me you love me," she said, not breaking her position.

I looked over at her completely. "Why?" I asked suspiciously.

She simply shrugged. "I just want to hear it."

I thought it was silly of her to ask that, since she knew I told her it all the time, whenever I could. Despite that, I wanted to give her what she wanted.

"I love you, Kate," I told her, making sure to look into her eyes until hers looked back into mine so that she knew I meant it.

Her eyes finally met my gaze, her hands momentarily pausing. "I love you too, Luke," she responded, then returned her eyes to her fingers.

I studied her for a moment, trying to decipher the meaning behind her impassive expression, trying to see if she was finally apprehensive. "Are you worried you won't hear it again? Is that why you wanted me to say it?"

She pursed her lips, thinking. "Just a precaution."

That was it. At that moment, I knew she was expecting the worst. She was expecting this small situation to blow up, that the vampire leading Gerard and Peter away was truly causing a distraction for something big. Kate didn't have enough faith in me to believe that I would do every damned thing in my power to keep her with me.

"You won't die, Kate," I said flatly, my jaw clenching stubbornly.

She nodded and it angered me that she was so calm and pokerfaced, as if she were to say, "Sure, whatever."

Instead, she said, "Tell me you love me again."

I turned my body so that I was facing her head on, and her fingers had no choice but to slide to my face. I hoped the intensity of my stare burned emotion into her, and she would see straight. I began slowly, my voice deep with a burning passion, "I will tell you now and I will tell you for the rest of your life: I love you."

She stared into my eyes, her lips parting ever so slightly, her cheeks flushing, and I felt victorious. Her face softened and her fingers pressed into the side of my face. I placed my hand on hers, pulling it towards the front of my face so I could catch the unbearable scent.

"Now tell me you love me," I told her softly.

A tiny giggle bubbled up to her lips and she smiled wide, making my heart skip. "I love you. And I will never leave you."

I closed my eyes, feeling the greatest feeling in my heart as her words burned into it, with her hand still held to my face.

With my eyes closed, I felt the rustle of her blanket, and the movement of the cushions beneath my elbow, and suddenly I felt her other hand rest on my face and her tiny lips touch mine. Her kiss was small and delicate, like everything that she was. I took a deep breath in through my nose, and all I could comprehend was her scent.

"How much longer will I have to stay here?" she asked after she broke the kiss. "I want to go to the beach."

I laughed. "Maybe we can work something out with Gerard, then we can all go to the beach tomorrow," I suggested, wanting to give her what she asked as always.

"Sounds great to me," she sighed, closing her eyes.

I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep," I whispered in her ear, then settled in for a long night watch, when I knew I would only be watching her.

**Kate**

I dosed off a few minutes later, my fingers still entwined in his hair. I slept dreamlessly, and awoke sometime later in the night at the feel of Luke's heat as he joined me on the couch once his lookout shift ended. After that, I was able to fall asleep more content, knowing that this would soon be over…

* * *

A shrill scream from outside the house shook me awake, causing me to sit up suddenly, with Luke's arm around me, restraining me. It must have been early morning, just after the sun had risen, and as I looked around, Luke and I were the only ones in the house.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, my brow furrowing as I looked around. "What is it?"

He was looking out through the large front windows and into the trees at a scene that I couldn't see. "Stay put. One of the female vampires."

My heart sank to my toes. "That is hunting me?"

I caught a faint nod, then he muttered, "But where is the other one?"

"What was that scream?" I asked softly, my voice coming out as a barely audible squeak. "Where did the guys go?"

He pulled me up and walked me back to the kitchen. I moved towards the sink, standing on my tip toes trying to peer our the back window and see something—a vampire—out there, but I could not find anything. Luke looked around the kitchen, searching for something.

"She has a victim. The others are out there now, cornering her—"

It took only a second, and then I was lurched backwards out of the kitchen into the backyard at an unfathomable speed, and into the cool La Push air. I felt the cold granite grip of a vampire's hands around my throat and my arm.


	32. Chapter 31 The Finale

Chapter 31

**Kate**

As the vampire whipped me around, I caught the sight of Luke lurching after me, phasing on the fly, but just before he was out the door. He burst through, taking the frame and part of the wall out with him. Debris scattered the ground, and Luke, leaving a gaping hole in the wall behind him, flung himself at the vampire, taking her down to the ground with me pinned in between. Luke managed to pull the vampire away from me by his teeth while Howard and Kevin in wolf form sprinted towards me from around the front of the house, positioning themselves in a protective stance. It was three against two, but the wolves still had me to think about.

Luke and the female vampire were at it viciously, Luke keeping sure that his back was to me for protection, as the other two wolves did the same and formed a circle with me at the center. The other female vampire appeared not far off from the woods across the street near the front, wiping something red off the corner of her mouth, and rearranging her torn clothes. Did the wolves do that? Was that the victim's blood on her lips? I was sure he or she was already dead.

The fight that then ensued when the second female joined in was hard to follow. Wolves and vampires were moving all around, snapping at each other, while I had to turn my entire body to catch it all. I was on the floor, tripping over rocks trying to keep in the center of their protective circle. It was difficult when the vampires were jumping all around the clearing of Gerard's backyard. There was an instance when the vengeful female vampire attempted to leap over the tall line of wolves to get to me, but Luke, with a terribly ferocious snarl, snatched her out of the air with an extended paw, claws sharp and exposed.

It had only been a few seconds of fighting when Gerard and Peter came barreling into the clearing, moving backwards and trying to keep the new male vampire off their backs. They joined in the fight, and the vampires were now completely outnumbered.

What was worse than the inability to catch every moment of the fight was the loud screeches and growls from both the vampires and the wolves. Mixed in with that were loud thuds, rips, the sound of bones breaking, and an odd groaning sound, like that of metal ripping apart.

A deafening howl broke above the other noises, and my attention snapped towards Kevin, who had a new vampire I had never seen before on his back, wrapping his arms around the massive wolf, flexing his muscles. The vampire count was now four.

Suddenly I felt fur hit my face, and I stumbled backwards and hit the ground. Luke had backed in to me while trying to keep the female vampire away, who had obviously determined Luke as her primary opponent.

All of a sudden, two more vampires appeared in the clearing, and the wolves were now outnumbered, still with the burden of keeping me away from them. The wolves were working double time, especially Luke, who seemed to be the vampires' main obstacle to get around in order to get to me. I tried my best to make it easier on them, but there was ultimately nothing I could do—I was a helpless human among strong fairytale creatures. The only thing I could do was stay out of the way as best I could.

But it wasn't enough.

The revengeful female vampire got around Luke, and it only took a second to get to me after that. Luke, preoccupied with a new strikingly blonde vampire on his back, was distracted for only a moment, which gave the lead female a chance to skirt by him and snatch me and jump out and apart from the circle.

Immediately, the wolves all turned on her, but her icy marble hands around my neck stopped them.

"Touch me and she dies," she said with acute pronunciation and a low and steady voice, her hands tightening only a fraction. "Follow me, and her blood will already be in my throat by the time you arrive."

Luke, the one closest to me, yet so far away, was whimpering desperately as he danced in front of what seemed an imaginary line between him and me. His howls and snarls were torture to listen to, and me stunned into silence, could only look at him. Finally this was over, but in the worst way possible.

From the corner of my eye, I could see the vampire holding me smirk at Luke, her garnet eyes turning vicious. "A mate for a mate."

I had not a moment to mouth something to him, or any form of goodbye at all, for the female was flying through the forest, me slung over her shoulder. The other female appeared not a second later, with short, fiery, red hair, laughing shrilly and dancing fluidly as she ran.

"LUKE!" I shrieked back towards to clearing at the top of my lungs, hoping he would hear me as she ran away at top speeds. "LUKE!"

The loudest, most miserable howl struck the forest, and my heart crumbled in two. Luke couldn't follow, or I would die, and everything he and his brothers did for me would have been in vain.

"Excellent sissy! We beat those foul smelling mutts! Let me have a taste," the redheaded female sang.

My heart sank and I knew this was the end of it; I would never hear Luke's voice again, or touch the shocking warmth of his skin, or reach up to kiss his soft lips—I would never see him again.

I would never see my family. My father, whom I hadn't even said goodbye to. The last thing I did to him was underhanded, deceiving him and sneaking out in the middle of the night with Luke. I wouldn't see Adam again. I hadn't even seen him in a week because of my absence. What have I done to my family?

Suddenly I was dropped on a snowy ground, my body hitting the ice-hard snow. I could only imagine the vampire had ran far north, for where else would there be snow in the summer?

The female crouched in front of me. I finally had the chance to take in her appearance—she had long, waist length brown hair, with dull red eyes, a contrast to the bright red eyes of the other female vampire dancing through the snow around us. She was as impossibly beautiful as every other vampire I had seen, and she had every intention of revenge marked on her face—the face of an angry vampire, something Luke tried so hard to explain to me. Now I was feeling the fear Luke said I should. Too bad it was too late.

"I'm not going to kill you," she said, her voice calm, but her face showing all of her emotions as clearly as an open book.

My body shook from head to toe from the freezing surroundings. I didn't dare speak to her.

"I have a much better idea that will tear the heart out of your canine mate," she said, bursting out into maniacal laughter, bringing her sister to a halt and darting over here.

"I thought you said I could have a taste of her blood!" she screeched, her beautiful face distorting into anger.

"Not this time, sissy. All has to go according to plan. Patients. You seemed to have had enough back at that reservation anyway," her sister explained.

"I want _hers_!" the red-headed vampire shrieked.

I forbade myself to listen any longer. My heart was racing, and I knew my life would end one way or the other, be it torture or anything else they wanted to do to me.

"Let us begin," the revenge-seeking vampire sang.

I clenched my eyes shut, preparing myself for whatever pain they would cause me. The only thing I felt was a sharp piercing in my neck, and then slowly, they set me on fire.

**END OF BOOK 1**


	33. Goodbye! For now

Wow. I'm finished. For now…

I know some of you aren't particularly happy with the ending I gave you, but just be patient. As you may have guessed, the "**END OF BOOK 1**" _did_ hint at a sequel, so the story hasn't ended there. But still, give me your complete thoughts of my story in the reviews. I promise you won't hurt my feelings if you don't have something positive to say. I just want to hear it.

As for the sequel, I will ask you to be patient. I'm taking a long time to get started on this book because I don't want to have long dry spells where I have nothing to post for weeks because I have school every day and work most days, and sometimes both on the same day which really kills me. I really am sorry for that, because I think I might have lost some of my readers because of it.

The sequel will be titled "The Vampire and the Werewolf," and I know, I am purely genius when it comes to titles (Haha… not), so keep a lookout for it sometime next year (but not too late)!

I'm excited to get started…

I think it would be easiest for you to know when the story is up if you subscribe to me, or make me on your alerts or something (I really don't know how it works, I only write and post). I guess you will be alerted once I add another story. And also, check back here as well—I may just post a little tidbit on the second book once I develop it more, maybe an excerpt?

Finally, thank you to my most dedicated readers, and to all of my readers for that matter, because initially I expected one or two of you. Thank you lots! I enjoyed writing this book for you!!!!!!!!!

Tata for now! (And let me get started on The Vampire and the Werewolf)

EDIT:  
For those of you who wanted an update here, The Vampire and the Werewolf is up now! Chapter 1!!!!!!


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